Kendra Stone Volume 5: Buried Secrets
by guardianM3
Summary: A long buried secret begins to unravel, throwing everyone into danger.
1. Chapter 1: Tragedy Strikes

Disclaimer: The characters of, "Sons of Thunder" and "Walker Texas Ranger", are owned by Chuck Norris, Aaron Norris, CBS and whoever else was involved with the creation and production of these two shows. Any new characters and story lines that come into play are of my own creation. No copyright infringement is intended. This is a fanfiction intended for entertainment purposes only and no money is being made off of it.

* * *

guardianM3: If you wish to read the ones before this one, (especially so you will know who my characters are and how people met each other) visit my bio for the list. It's a lot easier than having me list them all here. I apologize for the long wait.

* * *

Chapter 1: Tragedy Strikes

Tommy was trying to remain focused on a textbook that was lying in his lap. He was sitting on the back porch studying while keeping an eye on his two younger siblings Tyler and Tandy.

Tyler and Tandy had been throwing a ball to each other and then they had been practicing a new karate move that Trent had taught them a few days ago.

The events of the past year had Tommy wondering what he wanted to do with his life. He toyed with the idea of teaching karate or becoming a private investigator but he wasn't certain if that is what he wanted to do.

Tommy knew that he wanted to help people, but in his own way. Tommy had been hanging around Uppercuts a little more than usual so he could hopefully be involved in helping his brother and Carlos help someone or solve a mystery. Of course, Kendra had stumbled upon a mystery two months ago, that caused everyone to be involved in one way or another. She even allowed Tommy to be involved, somehow knowing without Tommy even telling her that he wanted to be involved.

He shook his head and returned to studying his textbook, writing down a few notes in a notebook that he had set down next to him. Tommy was so intent on his thoughts and trying to bring his focus back to his studying, that he hadn't realized that Tyler and Tandy had left the backyard.

Tommy looked out into the backyard and didn't see Tyler or Tandy. Tommy sighed and closed his textbook, using his notebook as a bookmark.

"Tandy! Tyler! Where are you guys?"

Just as Tommy walked around the corner of the house, he heard a horrible screech and a loud thud. Then he heard a type of scream that he had never heard before and he hoped that he never would again.

Tommy ran around to the front of the house and stopped abruptly. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. He could see Tyler, lying on the road, blood surrounding him while Tandy was on the sidewalk crying and screaming Tyler's name. Moses, the Malloy's golden retriever was sitting next to Tyler and whining.

* * *

Kendra grabbed her latte and Cassie's cappuccino and brought it out to the table outside that Cassie had saved. Kendra set the cappuccino in front of Cassie. Kendra took a sip of her latte before she sat down across from Cassie.

Cassie and Kendra were the only ones sitting outside of the café. A few pedestrians passed by them, but Kendra knew that they had plenty of privacy.

"Hunter has been stressed out a lot lately," Kendra said quietly as she watched a little boy and his mother walk past them. The little boy had a small bag of cotton candy and she could see the anticipation of opening up the treat.

"Well, he must be working on one heck of a case," Cassie replied.

Kendra's gaze left the little boy as she turned with a raised eyebrow and looked at Cassie. "You've been picking up Carlos' lingo, huh?"

Cassie grinned, a hint of red appearing on her cheeks. "He's a great guy."

Cassie's grin vanished as a worried frown replaced it. Cassie owed Kendra her life and wanted to pay her back. "Hey, maybe you should spend some time with Hunter, you know, to help relieve his stress."

Kendra looked at Cassie with her eyes shining. "You really want to kick me out of your place, huh? You want Carlos to go to your place more often than you going to his place?"

"What? Don't be ridiculous. I love having you around, it certainly makes me feel less lonely, but maybe Hunter needs you to spend more time with him. At least you can make sure he eats something and gets plenty of sleep."

"Oh, that's what you were talking about. I thought it was something else," Kendra said as she took a sip of her latte, trying to hide a smile.

Cassie didn't miss the smile and knew what Kendra had been implying. "Well, there is that option too. Look, just talk to Hunter about it. Unless there is a reason why you don't want to stay at his apartment?"

Before Kendra could answer, music began to play and even though it was muffled, Cassie could make out that it was the song "_I'm a Believer"_.

"Oh, that's me. I should check it." Kendra retrieved her cell phone from the front pocket of her jeans.

She flipped open her cell. "Hey, Butch, what's up?" Kendra asked. Cassie watched silently as Kendra's face became pale. "Cassie and I will be right there." Kendra closed her cell phone and jumped up off the bench.

"Kendra, what's wrong?" Cassie asked, fear gripping her heart, horrific thoughts passing through her mind about Carlos and Trent getting into trouble on a case. Images of the two private investigators lying injured crossed through Cassie's mind, the later ones worst the than the previous.

"It's Tyler, he's been hit by a car. He's been taken to the hospital," Kendra replied as she began to run to where her car was parked. Cassie ran to catch up to Kendra, praying that little Tyler Malloy would be all right.

* * *

Kendra and Cassie made it to the hospital in record time. Cassie hadn't complained or said a word about Kendra's driving, since she was focused on praying for Tyler.

Kendra and Cassie headed in the familiar direction that was the emergency room. When they arrived, the entire Malloy family except Tyler was sitting in the waiting room. Butch and Kim were standing near the door ready to run and get anything the Malloy family needed.

Silently, Kendra entered the room first and walked over to Katie. Kendra bent down and hugged Katie. Katie burst into tears and Kendra continued to hold her and offer her silent comfort.

Kendra grabbed Katie several tissues from the box and handed them over to Katie who took them thankfully, as she wiped away her tears. "He's going to be all right," Katie said hollowly, sounding unconvinced even though she didn't want to be.

Kendra smiled softly. "Of course he's going to be fine, he's a Malloy. I've never met anyone stronger than a Malloy."

Katie gave Kendra a small smile at the compliment and for the words of encouragement. Kendra knew that Katie was still terrified about her youngest, but Kendra would do all she could to help.

Kendra rose and turned slightly, and saw Carlos holding onto Cassie. Cassie was waiting to offer her comfort and reassurance to the Malloy family, but Kendra knew that Carlos needed comfort too. She hadn't even heard or sensed he had entered the room. She turned to look at Trent and saw a tear faced Tandy sitting in his lap. She met Trent's eyes and saw that he was staying calm for his family, but Kendra could see the worry and fear.

She placed a comforting hand on Trent's arm for a moment before she leaned down and kissed Tandy gently on the cheek, brushing some strands of curly blonde air out of the girl's eyes.

Her gaze moved over to Tommy whose face was pale and she could tell that he wasn't looking at the cheerily painted walls, but was seeing Tyler lying in the street, hurt and bleeding.

She walked over to him and kneeled before the distraught teenager. She was about to say something but Tommy spoke first.

"It's all my fault," Tommy said softly that only Kendra had heard what he said. Tears ran down his anguished face and Kendra hugged Tommy, but his body went rigid, refusing the comfort.

* * *

Ten minutes after Kendra and Cassie had arrived at the hospital, Alex arrived. Those ten minutes, Kendra knew must have felt like ten agonizing hours. Alex quickly explained that the Rangers were wrapping up a bust and would arrive shortly.

Meanwhile, Alex sat next to Katie and was speaking softly to the worried mother. Kendra stood next to Tommy to keep an eye on him.

Kendra looked at Alex and wondered where Hunter was at that moment. Alex hadn't mentioned Hunter at all and in the rush to get to the hospital, Kendra hadn't called Hunter. She knew that he would have found out about Tyler when Alex heard the news.

Kendra shook her head and refocused her attention on the Malloy family. She chided herself for thinking about Hunter when it was Tyler Malloy who needed positive thoughts and her prayers.

She looked at Tommy whose usually bright eyes had dimmed to the color of the sea during a dark storm and knew that Tyler wasn't the only one who needed her prayers.

* * *

guardianM3: I know this chapter was a little short, but it was a difficult one to write. Please review. I hope to update regularly, but I can't make that into a promise.


	2. Chapter 2: Understanding

Disclaimer: The characters of, "Sons of Thunder" and "Walker Texas Ranger", are owned by Chuck Norris, Aaron Norris, CBS and whoever else was involved with the creation and production of these two shows. Any new characters and story lines that come into play are of my own creation. No copyright infringement is intended. This is a fanfiction intended for entertainment purposes only and no money is being made off of it.

* * *

Chapter 2: Understanding

It had been three hours since Tyler Malloy had been brought into the hospital. Within that time, the Jones family had arrived offering their support and prayers as well. Walker and the others hadn't arrived yet, but everyone knew they would be coming soon. Hunter hadn't appeared and Kendra had decided not to ask Alex about him.

Kendra knew that Alex had tried to reach Hunter at least four times, but there had been no answer. Kendra wasn't worried about Hunter because she knew he wasn't in trouble. Yet.

Kendra's thoughts about Hunter faded when she heard someone approaching the waiting room.

When the doctor entered the room, Katie stood quickly on her feet and walked over. "How is he? How is my baby boy?"

The doctor looked at Katie with sympathy. Katie's eyes were red from crying, but nothing could prevent hope from shining through them.

Alex knowing the look that the doctor was giving Katie walked over to Tandy. "Come on, Tandy, let's go for some air."

Tandy looked from the doctor to her mother. "But I want to hear about Tyler."

"Please go with Mrs. Walker, Tandy," Trent said softly but with a firm tone.

Tandy sighed and grabbed Alex's outstretched hand. Tandy allowed herself to be led out of the room even though she wanted to hear about her brother. Katie cast one last glance over her shoulder, noting her mother's teary eyes she decided not to_ refuse_.

Once Tandy was out of earshot, the doctor introduced himself and quickly mentioned what had occurred in the emergency room. "He has several fractured and broken bones. I am extremely concerned about is his head wound. He has not awakened since the accident. Now, I do not want to alarm all of you but the first forty-eight hours are critical, especially when there is head trauma."

"Are you saying that Tyler may never wake up?" Katie asked fearfully.

The doctor hesitated for a moment before he slowly nodded his head. "I've seen patients who have had severe head trauma wake up not long after or maybe a few months, but your son is young, healthy and strong, so his chances are good."

"Can I see him?" Katie asked pleadingly with tears beginning to brew in her eyes again.

"In about twenty minutes, Mrs. Malloy. I'll have a nurse come and let you know when you can see him. Do you have any other questions?"

Katie shook her head. Once the doctor had left, Alex and Tandy returned to the waiting room.

Trent saw the pain and fear in his mother's eyes and he couldn't stand it. He turned to Tommy, his eyes filled with anger. "How could you let this happen, Tommy?"

Tommy at Trent, he was only a couple of inches shorter than Trent so he had to only had to raise his head slightly to look his brother in the eyes. Tommy didn't answer. Guilt of what happened to his baby brother shimmered in his teary gaze.

"You were supposed to be watching him!" Trent yelled.

"Trenton!" Katie exclaimed, surprised at her oldest son's anger and placing blame on her middle son.

"I was watching him. He just…he just… slipped out of my sight for a moment," Tommy said not trying to explain to Trent, but to himself.

"Well, Tommy, a moment was just enough for him to get hit by a car! I thought you had grown-up and gained some responsibility since Dad passed away, but I guess I was wrong." Trent's voice boomed in the small waiting room and had most likely traveled down the hallway.

"What do you know about responsibility? You weren't around when we needed you! You only came back after Dad died so you could rescue the family and be everyone's hero."

Tandy looked from Trent to Tommy with tears in her eyes, wondering how her brothers could yell at one another when they needed each other the most.

Katie saw the look on Tandy's face and knew that she had to put a stop to the fighting. "Trent, Tommy, enough! This argument is foolish and I don't want you two to be talking to each other this way," Katie said as she stepped in between them.

"Fine, I know when I'm not wanted." Tommy darted out of the room.

Katie was about to go after Tommy, but Kendra shook her head indicating silently that she would go after Tommy. Kendra quickly exited the room.

Meanwhile, Carlos spoke to Trent in a low voice that no one else heard what Carlos had said. Trent walked out of the room. Carlos turned to follow but before he left the room, he nodded to Katie.

"I thought Tommy had worked through that." Katie said as she placed her face in her hands.

"They are both upset, Katie. They just said some things that neither of them meant." Butch said as he placed a comforting arm across her shoulders. "We both know that Carlos and Kendra will set them straight." Butch paused for a moment. "We definitely know that Kendra will set Tommy straight."

Katie laughed as she brushed away a tear that had begun to fall down her cheek. Butch removed his arm from Katie's shoulders so she could talk to Tandy.

* * *

Carlos brought Trent to an empty waiting room and shut the door. He turned to Trent who was pacing in the room, barely avoiding the chairs and the one table.

"Trent, you can't blame Tommy for what happened. It was an accident," Carlos said.

Trent stopped pacing and turned to Carlos. "Tommy should have kept a better eye on him."

Carlos sighed, his hands slipping into his the pockets of his faded jeans. "You remember when we were kids and that we always got out from under the watchful eye of our parents or anyone who was supposed to be keeping an eye on us. Trent, I know that you're upset and Tommy is too, but you can't blame him."

Trent slapped his hands against the wall, his back to Carlos. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to control the anger, the sadness and the guilt. "I know your right. I…I just…" Trent's voice broke and Carlos waited silently for his friend to continue.

Trent took a couple deep breaths. "I know that Tommy can't keep his eye on Tyler and Tandy one hundred percent of the time, but all it takes is just one minute to be distracted and someone gets hurt."

Carlos took his hands out of his pockets and crossed his arms over his chest. "I know that you are upset about Tyler, we all are, but is there something else going on Trent?"

Trent turned to Carlos and sighed. "No. I just don't want Tommy to make the same mistakes I made."

Carlos couldn't help get the feeling that Trent was leaving something out, but he decided not to press the matter. Right now, he needed to get Trent and Tommy to forgive each other and get them focused on Tyler.

"Let's go. I think Walker and the others are here. If Kendra manages to help Tommy, I hope that you are willing to forgive him and take back what you said."

Trent nodded as the guilt increased tenfold when he realized he should have been thinking about Tyler and supporting the rest of his family during this time.

* * *

Kendra caught up with Tommy at the elevators before he had a chance to hop into one. She grabbed his arm, but when he spun around, his fists in the air, she released him but looked at him firmly.

"He didn't mean what he said, Tommy." Kendra said softly ignoring the curios looks two nurses were giving them. She just focused all of her attention and concern on Tommy.

"Right. Trent never means what he says. The only thing is Trent is right. I'm the reason that Tyler got hurt. I should have been watching him more closely." Tommy slapped his hand against the wall, ignoring the pain that shot through his hand.

"Well, feeling sorry for yourself isn't going to help Tyler get better and I certainly am not going to help you beat yourself up," Kendra said a little more forceful than she had intended to, but she wasn't going to allow Tommy to spiral downward anymore.

"You don't understand!" Tommy yelled as he kicked a round wastebasket, causing it to topple over and roll down the hallway, spilling some of its contents.

Kendra didn't seem to notice, as she looked Tommy straight in his blue eyes. "I do, Tommy, I do understand."

Tommy snorted derisively and walked away from Kendra. She didn't follow him, knowing that he needed time. She also knew that he wouldn't go to far from the hospital, just in case there was any news about Tyler.

Kendra knew all too well about the guilt that Tommy would be feeling. True, it was two completely different circumstances, but the guilt was always there, bubbling at the surface waiting to boil out of the pot.

* * *

Hunter was in his apartment working on a case. He had moved all of his files and papers from his desk to the slightly larger table that was between the kitchen and the living room. He had also brought out his laptop which was sitting off to his right. He didn't know how long he had but working, but he started to feel his stomach growl as though it were ready to devour all of the papers and folders were strewn all across the table

Hunter rubbed his red, tired eyes. He looked over at the clock and saw that it was fifteen minutes after midnight. He hadn't heard from Kendra or anyone else all day. Then he remembered that he had turned off his cell phone and had turned down the volume of the ring on his home phone.

He decided that he had better check his cell and answering machine for any messages. He hit the send button on his phone to turn it on and while the screen lit up, he went over to the phone that was located in the kitchen that had a built in caller id and an answering machine. He winced as he saw the message and the missed call lights flashing red as though the phone was telling him that whoever had tried to call him was angry with him.

He knew that if Kendra hadn't been able to get in contact with him, she would have called around to see if anyone knew where he was or she would have looked around herself.

He hit the message button and heard Alex's voice. _"Hunter, it's Alex. Tyler, Katie Malloy's son, has been hit by a car. We are in the emergency room at the hospital." Beep._

Hunter's heart dropped as he continued to listen to his messages, all from Alex about what was going on at the hospital. Hunter chided himself for turning the volume down on his phone and shutting off his cell phone.

Hunter went to grab his keys and cell phone so he could head over to the hospital. He knew that Kendra would still be there and he had a lot of explaining to do. The only thing was, he couldn't explain to Kendra about this case.

Hunter sighed as he walked out the door, making sure that to lock it before he left. He had to figure out what he was going to say to Kendra. He also wondered why she hadn't bothered to search for him when Alex hadn't been able to reach him. He knew that he was in trouble but he knew Kendra would understand that he couldn't tell her everything. At least, he hoped she would.

* * *

guardianM3: I hoped you all enjoyed this chapter and that it wasn't confusing or boring. Please review to let me know what you think about this volume so far.


	3. Chapter 3: Exhaustion

Disclaimer: The characters of, "Sons of Thunder" and "Walker Texas Ranger", are owned by Chuck Norris, Aaron Norris, CBS and whoever else was involved with the creation and production of these two shows. Any new characters and story lines that come into play are of my own creation. No copyright infringement is intended. This is a fanfiction intended for entertainment purposes only and no money is being made off of it.

* * *

guardianM3: I apologize, once again, for taking so long to update. My life is a mess right now, so I hadn't felt like writing. Well, anyway, here is the newest chapter. I hope you all will review. Also, if anyone would like to make a suggestion for a title for this chapter, it would be greatly appreciated.

* * *

Chapter 3: Exhaustion

Katie, Trent and Tandy refused to go home because they didn't want to leave Tyler alone in the hospital. They got as comfortable as they could in the chairs in the waiting room as they had decided to sleep there for the night. Tommy had returned, but he had refused to speak to Trent. Trent was too tired to get Tommy to speak to him and decided to wait to patch things up with his brother.

Butch had taken Kim back to her apartment since she had fallen asleep. Carlos and Kendra were just outside of the waiting room. They both had large cups of coffee in their hands, Carlos' had almost finished his coffee, but Kendra hadn't taken a sip from her cup.

Carlos knew that Kendra was disappointed in Hunter for not being there. He knew that she was also ticked off. He didn't know what he was going to say, but he had to try. Carlos was about to walk over to Kendra and talk to her, when Cassie came around the corner.

"Hey, I thought you went home to get some sleep?" Carlos said but he had a grin on his face, glad that Cassie was there with him.

"Hey. Did you really think that I could sleep? I decided that I should be here. Is there any news?" Cassie asked as she hugged Carlos.

Carlos shook his head. "The Malloys are all asleep or they appear to be." He couldn't help but feel wonderful when Cassie was in his arms. He could feel her heart beating and her silky red hair against his cheek.

Carlos pointed at Kendra, giving Cassie a concerned look. Cassie knew that Hunter hadn't arrived or had even called. She wondered why Kendra hadn't tried to call him or even track him down.

Cassie stepped back from Carlos and went over to Kendra. "Hey, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Cassie. Just fine," Kendra said as she studied the top of her coffee cup.

Kendra turned to look down the hallway. Cassie was about to ask Kendra what was wrong when she heard footsteps and watched as Hunter turned the corner and walked over to them.

Cassie almost gasped when she saw Hunter. His eyes were baggy and his clothes were wrinkled. He looked as though he hadn't shaved in several days. His golden hair lacked its usual luster.

"I need to talk with you, Kendra," Hunter said, his voice sounding scratchy and heavy.

Kendra shrugged her shoulders and walked down the hall. She turned a few times until she came to an empty waiting room. She didn't have to turn around to know that Hunter had followed her.

"I was working on a case and I turned off my cell. I'm sorry that I didn't get here till now."

"Whatever, Hunter," Kendra said as she turned and looked at him with disappointment in her tired blue eyes.

"Damn it, Kendra. I said I'm sorry," Hunter yelled as he kicked one of the chairs, ignoring the pain that shot up his foot.

"Look, Hunter. I don't ask you for much. You should have been here, not for me, but for Tyler and the Malloy family. I understand when you're working on an intense case and you put our relationship on hold, but not when it comes to a friend getting hurt."

The anger vanished from Hunter's face and it became exhaustion and guilt. His green eyes lost its shine and they looked hollow. His hair was unkempt and his clothes looked as though he had slept in them, except Kendra knew he hadn't been sleeping.

"I think we both need to take some time. We are too exhausted to talk about this right now. I'll talk to you later, Kendra." Hunter turned and walked out of the room.

Kendra wanted to go after him, but she couldn't make her legs move. She didn't know if it was because of her stubborn pride or if it was because she didn't know what to say.

Kendra sat down in the chair that Hunter had kicked. She leaned down and placed her face in her hands. She raised her head when she heard someone walk into the room.

It was Cassie. Kendra knew that Cassie had heard every word. Cassie could see the tears in her friend's eyes, but she knew that Kendra wouldn't let them fall.

* * *

Hunter felt guilty for yelling at Kendra. He knew she was right, but this case was important. He couldn't let Kendra know what he had been working on; she would be worried about him. Actually, she would ask to be involved. He knew he couldn't let that happen, because her life would be in danger.

As he drove home, his eyes checked the rearview mirror often. He felt as though someone was following him or watching him, but he didn't see anyone.

He parked his car and headed to his apartment. He looked over his shoulder when he reached the door, but there wasn't a shifty shadow disappearing around the corner. Hunter shook his head and entered his apartment, making sure he locked the door.

He dropped his keys off on the counter. He shook his head, chiding himself for being ridiculous. No one had been following him; he was just jumping at shadows or the lack of them. Hunter sighed and sat down at the table. He began to organize the papers and folders that had quickly become scattered across the table. His mind went back to Kendra

Hunter hopped into the shower and let the hot water wash over him. It wasn't the anger that had bothered Hunter; it was the disappointment lingering in those fiery blue eyes.

He got out of the shower, dried off and went to bed. As his eyes closed, he continued to see sad, tired blue eyes. He finally fell asleep, but even in his dreams; those eyes wouldn't let him get any real rest.

* * *

After a couple hours of fitful sleep, in an uncomfortable chair at the hospital Kendra decided that she had to make it up to Hunter. She had gone home to shower and change her clothes before she went to the grocery store. She knew that he had been working on a case and hadn't been sleeping very well or apparently at all. She decided that the first step was to make Hunter breakfast. Technically, it would be brunch since it was ten in the morning.

Kendra was about to unlock the door to Hunter's apartment, but the door was already unlocked. Kendra was surprised because she knew Hunter always locked his door. She shook her head and realized that he had probably forgotten because he was exhausted.

Being careful not to drop the two paper grocery bags that she held in her hands. She went in and dropped her load off on the kitchen counter. She didn't see Hunter in the kitchen or the living room, but she figured he was probably awake anyway.

"Hunter, it's me. I'm sorry about what I said last night, actually this morning, and I know how hard you have been working. And that you have been stressed. So, I want to make it up to you, ok? First, I'm going to make you some breakfast," Kendra said as she pulled a pan out of the cupboard and set it on the stove.

"Hunter, do you want pancakes or waffles?" She yelled out as she began to unpack the bags.

There was no response.

"Hunter, are you up yet?" Kendra yelled as she put a salad on a lower shelf in the refrigerator. She wanted to make sure that he would have something for lunch.

Kendra didn't hear the shower running so she decided to go search for him. She left the remainder of the groceries on the counter and headed down the hallway to Hunter's bedroom.

She knocked on the closed door and when she didn't get an answer, she wondered if he was sleeping. She didn't want to wake him, especially since he had been exhausted when he had come by the hospital earlier that morning.

Without realizing it, her hand reached out to the doorknob, turned it and she pushed open the door.

The smell of blood reached her nostrils first before she saw the horrific sight. She ran toward Hunter who was lying askew on the bed. The mattress was soaked with blood but Kendra kneeled onto it anyway as she checked for a pulse. She didn't find one.

"No. NOOO! HUNTER!" She screamed his name again before she performed CPR; trying to revive him. When her fingers went to his neck, she still couldn't feel a pulse. She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and dialed 911.

Kendra quickly told the operator in an almost robotic voice what was wrong and hung up before the person could say a word. Kendra ran to the bathroom and grabbed as many towels as she could. She pressed held them against Hunter's chest that was covered in blood.

Kendra remained there, focused on Hunter that she didn't even hear the sirens that were coming closer. All she could think about is what she had said to Hunter at the hospital.

* * *


	4. Chapter 4: Shock

Disclaimer: The characters of, "Sons of Thunder" and "Walker Texas Ranger", are owned by Chuck Norris, Aaron Norris, CBS and whoever else was involved with the creation and production of these two shows. Any new characters and story lines that come into play are of my own creation. No copyright infringement is intended. This is a fanfiction intended for entertainment purposes only and no money is being made off of it.

* * *

Chapter 4: Shock

When two EMTs came into Hunter's bedroom, it took both of them to move Kendra away from Hunter. She sat down on the floor with her back to the closet. Her blue eyes were staring off into space.

The EMT's words did not register in Kendra's mind. All she could see was Hunter lying on a bed soaked with his blood.

The EMTs placed Hunter on a gurney and rushed him out of the room. Kendra didn't even move.

About five minutes later, two police officers came in. One of them tried to move Kendra but she wouldn't budge. The other officer was about to help when Walker stepped into the room.

He quickly took in the bloodstained bed and then he looked at Kendra. He saw that she still held a bloody towel in one of her hands. He signaled for the two officers to move back, which they did once they saw the badge on his red shirt.

He leaned down next to Kendra and whispered something into her ear. He grabbed onto her arm and she rose without any resistance. He led her out of the room and out of the apartment and placed her in his truck. He buckled Kendra into the seat and closed the door.

He didn't have to turn to know that Trivette was coming towards him. He turned around and waited.

"Walker, I just heard about Hunter. I saw the ambulance…." Trivette said as he stepped up to his partner. He saw Kendra sitting in the passenger seat of Walker's truck staring straight ahead. "Is she all right?"

"She will be. I'm taking her to the hospital. Can you stay here?"

"Yeah," Trivette said as he nodded his head with concern in his eyes.

"I'll be back as soon as I can," Walker said as he went to the driver's side and got in. He didn't have to look in the rearview mirror to know that Trivette's eyes were following them.

* * *

Walker brought Kendra into St. Matthews Hospital. She hadn't said a word during the entire drive which worried Walker even more.

Walker spoke quietly to a nurse and she led them to an empty room. He had Kendra sit down in a chair. He asked the nurse to page Dr. O'Connell and sat with Kendra until the doctor arrived.

When Dr. O'Connell came in, he stood just outside the door while the doctor looked her over.

Dr. O'Connell came out into the hallway. She looked at Walker with sad eyes. "She's in shock. You should have someone bring her some clean clothes. One of the nurses can help her change."

Walker nodded. "Thank you, Dr. O'Connell. I'll do that. Have you heard anything about Hunter?"

"He's alive. He lost a lot of blood and he barely had a heartbeat. The EMT's were able to bring him back long enough for him to get a blood transfusion. He is currently in surgery."

"Thank you, Doctor," Walker said.

Walker asked a nurse to keep an eye on Kendra, while he went to let everyone know what had happened. He asked Cassie to get Kendra a change of clothes. He also went to ask Alex to stay with Kendra, knowing that she was going to need someone by her side.

* * *

Tommy leaned against the wall and stared out the window, not paying any attention to the vehicles coming and going from the parking lot. He couldn't believe what had happened to Hunter and to Kendra. First, his brother is hit by a car and now Hunter is fighting for his life. Kendra had found Hunter and was in shock.

Alex had broken the news to the group about Hunter and Kendra. Except Tandy who was being watched by Kim at the time and Cassie had been with Kendra. Butch also hadn't heard the news, since he wasn't in the hospital and they didn't know where he was at the time.

The words that Trent had said to him wouldn't leave his mind. Trent was right to blame him. He was supposed to have been watching Tyler and the second his eyes had left his younger brother, he got hurt.

Tommy had been ignoring Trent's attempts to talk about what had happened between them. He knew that Trent would try to take back the words that he had said.

Tandy came running into the room with a smile on her face. "Tyler's awake. He's awake." Tandy started to dance around the room yelling in excitement.

"He is?" Tommy asked.

"Yes, Mom is with him right now and she said that I could tell everyone that he's awake."

* * *

"Any word on Hunter?" Trivette asked when Walker entered the living room that was currently being dusted for fingerprints by the forensics team. Walker had Sydney and Gage checking out Hunter's office.

"He's in surgery. Alex said she'd call once she hears anything."

Trivette nodded his head solemnly as he scanned the room for about the sixth time. He turned and looked back at Walker."How's Kendra?"

"She's still in shock. She hasn't spoken a word or moved since I brought her to the hospital. Alex and Cassie are with her now."

"I do have some good news. Tyler's awake," Walker said.

"That's great. How is he doing?" Trivette asked.

"He's confused and he can't remember what happened."

"Well, I'm glad that he's awake. His family and friends are there for him."

Walker agreed with a nod of his head before he turned back to the attack on Hunter. "What do we know?" Walker asked.

"Well, he was shot twice in the chest with a nine millimeter. It seems he was shot while he was sleeping. He didn't even get a chance to defend himself. The lock on the front door was jimmied so that's how our attacker got in. It looks as though the attacker rifled through drawers but didn't make a mess. Seems as though he didn't want us to think he was searching for something."

Walker nodded his head. "We'll have to wait and see if Kendra knows anything."

"She might not have anything to give us, Walker," Trivette pointed out grimly.

"Yes, but we have to try. I'm going to talk to Alex as well and see if she knows about anyone who wanted to kill Hunter."

"I think that's going to be a long list. He's helped put a lot of criminals away," Trivette pointed out.

"I know, but we need to narrow down that list and get whoever did this," Walker said his eyes having turned darker.

Trivette knew that look on Walker's face. He almost felt bad for Hunter's attacker. Almost.

* * *

Trent was standing in front of a soda machine, trying to decide whether he wanted a root beer or an orange soda. He saw Butch coming towards him with a smile on his face.

"Hey, Trent," Butch said as he walked up to him.

"Tyler's awake," Trent replied with a smile on his face.

"I've heard," Butch replied, slapping Trent on the shoulder. "I'm glad for Tyler and all of you. How is Tommy taking the news?"

"He's glad, but he still feels guilty for what happened," Trent sighed and hung his head. "I shouldn't have blamed Tommy. I've tried to apologize, but he won't listen."

"It will take some time," Butch replied.

"Yeah. I just hope it won't be too long," Trent replied. "Have you heard about Hunter?"

Butch nodded his head as his smile vanished in an instant. "I was with Lyle and I heard the news when he did. Sounds like its pretty bad this time. Lyle's with Hunter now. Have you seen Kendra?"

"No. She's in shock and not doing too well. Alex and Cassie are with her. I thought it would be best if she wasn't surrounded by a lot of people." Trent couldn't help but feel guilty for not being with Kendra. He couldn't decide what to do. He was so happy and relieved about Tyler, that he didn't want Kendra to see that when Hunter was fighting for his life.

"Good point, but I'm still going to go see her. It might do her some good having her friends around. It might help bring her back." Butch could tell what Trent was thinking and understood.

"Yeah, we can tell her about Tyler. That might help," Trent said hoping that it would help and not make it worse. Perhaps some good news and positive energy would snap her out of her state.

"It probably will," Butch agreed, giving Trent a grin.

* * *

guardianM3: You know the drill.


	5. Chapter 5: Snap

Disclaimer: The characters of, "Sons of Thunder" and "Walker Texas Ranger", are owned by Chuck Norris, Aaron Norris, CBS and whoever else was involved with the creation and production of these two shows. Any new characters and story lines that come into play are of my own creation. No copyright infringement is intended. This is a fanfiction intended for entertainment purposes only and no money is being made off of it.

* * *

Chapter 5: Snap

_ All Kendra could see was Hunter. He was lying on his bed and smiling at her, with his green eyes shimmering. Suddenly, his face become pale and blood began to seep from his chest as wounds appeared._

_She closed her eyes, but she could still smell the blood. That coppery smell mixed with death. She screamed Hunter's name, over and over again. _

_"You need to snap out of this Kendra. You're needed," a voice said over her screaming._

_Kendra fought the images that continued to spring into her mind. The voice continued to tell her to snap out of it, until she did._

Her eyes shot open and she saw that she was lying on a bed in the hospital. She could tell she was wearing normal clothes, instead of a hospital gown. She was glad about that. She turned her head and saw Cassie and Alex sitting next to the bed.

"Cassie? Alex?"

"Kendra!" Cassie exclaimed as she jumped up. She was glad that Kendra had finally come out of shock. At least, she hoped her friend was out of her catatonic state.

"Hunter's dead," Kendra said, her voice hollow.

Cassie grabbed Kendra's shoulders and squeezed a little harder than she had meant to, but she had to make sure Kendra understood. "He's alive. He's in intensive care and he is fighting to live, but he is alive."

Kendra nodded and looked at Alex. "I should speak with Walker. I doubt I have anything that could help him, but I at least have to try."

"Of course, I'll call him," Alex said as she stood up.

"No need, Alex. I'm here." Walker stepped soundlessly into the room.

Alex nearly jumped out of her skin. "Walker, don't sneak up on me like that!"

Walker smiled at Alex before he turned his attention to Kendra. "What do you remember, Kendra?"

"I arrived at Hunter's apartment with some groceries. I knew he hadn't been sleeping and probably not eating. I went to unlock the door, but I released that the door was unlocked. I thought that was a little odd since Hunter always locked his door. I shrugged it off, thinking that he had forgotten since he was so exhausted." Kendra paused for a moment before she continued. "Then I found Hunter. I didn't see anything except Hunter. That's all I know."

"Thank you, Kendra. I know how hard this is for you, but we will find out who hurt Hunter." Walker nodded and indicated with a look that he needed to speak with Alex in private.

"The thing is I don't know what case Hunter was working on that was taking up so much of his time."

"What do you mean, Alex?"

"All of the cases we have been working on are pretty cut and dry. There shouldn't be any reason why Hunter hadn't been sleeping. He must have been working on something else."

Alex saw a familiar look in Walker's eyes. "What are you thinking, Walker?"

"I think you're right about Hunter. He was working on something, probably a case that never went across your desk."

"He found out something or an informant talked to him." Alex couldn't help but wonder why Hunter hadn't mentioned a word to her about it. It must have involved something or perhaps someone important.

"Yes. It has to be a case he was keeping quiet about for a reason," Walker said. We just have to find out what he was working on. I'm going to check in with Sydney and Gage. Maybe they found something in his office."

"I'm going to stay here with Kendra," Alex said.

Walker nodded and kissed Alex. He put his hat back on his head and headed out the door.

* * *

"I'm taking Kendra home. Alex is going home to be with Angela. She needs some rest and it would be better if she didn't spend the night in the hospital. I actually didn't get an argument out of her this time." Cassie looked at the group from Uppercuts gathered before her, knowing that they understood why Cassie was concerned.

"That has me worried," Butch replied with a sigh.

"That she's willing to leave Hunter?" Carlos asked, having the same concern for their friend.

"Yes. She's so lost right now, that her stubbornness has taken a backseat," Butch said with a sigh, wondering if she would be able to get past this.

"Well, I hope after she gets some rest she's back to her old self again," Cassie said, not willing to give up on her friend.

"I think it's going to take a long while before she's our Kendra again," Kim said sadly.

"I was hoping with the good news about Tyler that it might have helped her, but she seems the same." Trent sighed as he ran a hand through his hair.

"That's only going to happen when Hunter gets better," Butch said.

Cassie agreed with a nod of her head. "Well, I should be going. You all know where to reach me." Cassie kissed Carlos. "I want updates."

"Yes, ma'am…uh…miss." Carlos said when Cassie had given him a look.

"I'm going to go help Walker and the others with finding out who tried to kill Hunter," Carlos said once Cassie had turned the corner.

"I want to help, but..." Trent began, his voice filled with guilt.

Carlos placed his hand on Trent's shoulder. "Don't worry about it. You need to focus on Tyler and your family right now. No one's going to be upset with you about it."

"Thanks," Trent replied glad that his friends understood.

"I'm coming with you, Carlos. I can't just sit here. Besides, the Rangers need me with any computer searches." Kim hugged Trent before she followed Carlos out of the room.

"Well, I'm going to stay with Lyle," Butch said.

Trent nodded. Butch left the PI to his own thoughts. He still felt guilty about not being able to help one of his friends.

* * *

Walker stepped into Hunter's office. It looked as though a tornado had torn through the office.

Sydney was standing at the file cabinet, with a folder in her hands.

Gage was sitting at Hunter's desk, his eyes reading through a file sitting in front of him. He raised his eyes when he realized someone had entered the room.

"How's Hunter doing?"

"He's out of surgery, but he's in critical condition. So, that means the next couple of days are going to be rough."

"How about Kendra? Trivette mentioned she's not doing too well." Gage hoped that there was some good news. Especially since he and Sydney hadn't found anything.

"Cassie took her home," Walker replied.

Sydney frowned as she looked at Walker. "That's not a good sign. I mean, when Hunter was hurt before, she refused to leave his side."

"I think she feels responsible. She had a big argument with Hunter a few hours before he got shot," Walker said, asking Gage with his eyes if they had discovered anything.

"Well, all the files we have gone through so far are the normal cases that he works on," Gage said with a frown, as his eyes roamed over the mass of files on Hunter's desk.

"Did you find a case that appears not to have come to Hunter's desk through normal means?" Walker asked.

"They all have a file number. You think he may have been working on a case that didn't come through his office?" Sydney asked.

"That's what I've been thinking. Alex said that he might have discovered a case or an informant told him about one."

"So, he might not have left any information here. He may have kept it at his apartment." Sydney set the file she had been reading on the top of the file cabinet.

"Hunter's attacker rifled through his apartment. He may have the information on the case that Hunter had been working on." Walker sighed, hoping that wasn't the case. It would mean that whatever evidence that Hunter had gathered would have been destroyed by his attacker.

"So, basically, we have nothing to go on," Gage said as he threw a folder down onto Hunter's desk.

"Maybe, maybe not. The forensic team is still going over Hunter's apartment and that is going to take some time. We are going to check to see if anyone who had been convicted by Hunter has been released within the past six months."

"So, we are moving from file search to a computer search. Great."  
Gage rubbed the back of his neck to try and undo the kinks that had developed from sitting and reading files after files.

"Have you tried to look on Hunter's computer?" Walker asked, finally noticing the computer on the desk, since the number of files was overwhelming.

"We tried to get on but he has excellent security. We'll need someone to crack his passwords." Gage looked at the computer. "I didn't realize Hunter was so computer savvy."

"Well, we know someone who is savvy enough to crack his passwords," Sydney said with a grin.

Walker nodded, hoping that Hunter had made some backup files or at least had left something for them to follow.

* * *

guardianM3: Please review! I am very hungry for reviews. The more reviews I receive, the happier I am so possibly the quicker I will write and post! Don't worry. I'm not going to hold any chapters' hostage.


	6. Chapter 6: Gone

Disclaimer: The characters of, "Sons of Thunder" and "Walker Texas Ranger", are owned by Chuck Norris, Aaron Norris, CBS and

Disclaimer: The characters of, "Sons of Thunder" and "Walker Texas Ranger", are owned by Chuck Norris, Aaron Norris, CBS and whoever else was involved with the creation and production of these two shows. Any new characters and story lines that come into play are of my own creation. No copyright infringement is intended. This is a fanfiction intended for entertainment purposes only and no money is being made off of it.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 6: Gone

Cassie stepped into the Rangers' office, noting that every single one of the Rangers' were on a computer, even Walker. Kim and Carlos also had their own computers that Walker had asked to be brought in. She could tell that they had been there all night by the numerous cups of coffee and takeout containers in the trash and on the desks.

None of them seemed to notice her arrival. She knocked on the door to get their attention. Everyone looked up from the monitors.

"Kendra's gone," Cassie said quickly. She subconsciously began to wring her hands with worry and then she started to pace the room.

"What do you mean?" Carlos asked as he stood up. He hoped Kendra hadn't returned to her catatonic state.

Cassie sighed. "She left. I don't know where she went or when she left. She just left a note saying that she's fine and not to worry."

"She's probably with Hunter," Sydney said not really believing her own words.

"I checked. She's not with Hunter. I even asked the nurses and they haven't seen her. I checked with Butch, Lyle, and the Malloys. No one has seen or heard from her."

"Okay, that's not good. Any idea where she might have gone?" Gage asked.

"I don't know where she has gone, but I know what she's probably doing," Kim said.

They all agreed without saying a word that Kendra must be trying to find Hunter's attacker.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As Trent read to Tyler, his mind continued to wander. He couldn't help but feel guilty that he wasn't out helping his friends. Trent also felt guilty about what he had said to Tommy. He had tried again that afternoon to apologize, but Tommy had brushed him off.

Trent hadn't even noticed that he had finished the book. Tyler waited a few moments before he spoke. "Trent, are you all right?"

Trent shook himself out of his daze and smiled brightly at his brother. "Yeah, buddy, I'm fine. I want you to get some rest, ok?"

"Okay. I'm feeling tired anyway."

Trent adjusted Tyler's blankets before he kissed him on the forehead and left the room. Tandy sneaked up on Trent.

"Is it all right if I sit with Tyler? I promise that I will let him sleep," Tandy asked, her hands folded together as she pleaded.

Trent smiled. "All right. You can sit with Tyler."

"Thank you." Tandy gave Trent a quick hug before she went into Tyler's room.

Trent tried to rub the stiffness out of neck, but to no avail. He returned to the waiting room where his mother was sitting and knitting.

"How's Tyler?" Katie asked raising her eyes from her knitting to look at Trent.

"He enjoyed the story and he decided to take a nap. Tandy is with him and promised to let him sleep."

Katie set aside her knitting and stood up. "Trent, you seem distracted. Are you all right?"

Trent was about to nod his head when he changed his mind. He sighed and turned his head to look out the window. It was a sunny and warm day, but he hadn't had a chance to even go outside. He turned back to his mother who was waiting patiently for her son to speak.

"It's Tommy and Kendra and Hunter. I want to help all of them, but I can't."

"Why can't you?" Katie asked.

Trent sighed. "Tommy's angry with me, in which he has a right to be and I can't leave Tyler to help Kendra and Hunter."

Katie walked up to Trent and placed her hands on his shoulders. "Son, Tyler is all right now. I know and Tyler knows that you like to help people. It is a part of who you are and that is something we love about you. You should help Hunter and Kendra, anyway you can. It may give you time to think about how to help Tommy as well."

"Are you sure, Mom?"

Katie closed her eyes for a moment and when she opened them, she looked directly into her son's eyes that mirrored her own. "You would not be abandoning us if you go and help your friends. They are a part of this family, even though they do not have the last name Malloy. I would help, but I wouldn't know where to start. Go."

Trent leaned down and kissed his mother's forehead. "Thank you, mom. Call me if you need anything." Trent grabbed his jacket that he had put on one of the waiting room chairs earlier that day.

"I will," Katie said as she watched her son leave the room. She was so proud for her son for being a loving and caring man.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kendra grabbed One-Eyed Jackie by his collar, raised him up from the chair he was sitting in and slammed him ferociously against the wall.

The other patrons gaped at the scene being played out before them. Some of them were glad for the entertainment and they were all glad that they were not One-Eyed Jackie.

"What do you know about Hunter Prescott being attacked?" Kendra asked fiercely.

"Now, now pretty Kendra, how would I know anything about something like that? Besides, Butch owes _me_ a favor, not the other way around. And besides…"

Kendra was grabbed from behind and forcefully pulled away from One-Eyed Jackie.

"…I always have my bodyguards around," One-Eyed Jackie finished with a cocky grin.

Kendra's expression didn't change but her eyes had become dark as she used her heel to step on one man's foot and he released her. She twirled around and sent her fist into the other man's jaw. The sound of bones crunching could be heard over the loud music of the bar.

Another man came at Kendra with an opened switchblade. Kendra grabbed the man's wrist that held the switchblade and twisted it, breaking the wrist in two places. Then when he screamed in pain and rage, Kendra kneed him in the groin, which caused him to scream even louder.

Kendra spun around and grabbed One-Eyed Jackie as he was about to make a run for it. She had him against the same spot as she had before.

"What do you know?" Kendra asked her eyes burning with a pure blue fire.

"The one who works at the DA's office? Nothing. Nothing! I swear I don't know anything," One-Eyed Jackie said. He tried not to squirm, so he wouldn't give her any reason to hit him.

Kendra stared into his one good eye and saw that he was telling the truth. "Butch doesn't owe you a favor and if he ever asks you anything, you will answer him honestly and not ask for anything in return. Got it?" Kendra said with no expression on her face.

"Yeah. Yes of course." His head bobbed up and down a few times to confirm what Kendra had ordered him.

Kendra let go of him, turned around and left the bar. One-Eyed Jackie looked at his bodyguards and was glad that she hadn't decided to hurt him. He ordered a triple shot of whiskey and drank it down in one gulp. He ordered another one and decided he may as well drink the whole bottle.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kendra parked her car and headed into the Rage Roadhouse bar. She ignored the looks that the patrons were giving her. Some of them seemed to remember her and they made sure that they stayed out of her way.

Kendra walked up to the pool table where an intense game was being played. One of the players was about to take a shot, when she grabbed onto the white ball. "Andy, we need to talk."

"Kendra, I've heard about Hunter," Andy said as he chalked up the end of his cue.

Kendra ignored the looks she was receiving from the other players and focused on Andy. "We need to talk in private. I don't have time to waste while you play this game."

Andy sighed softly, knowing that if he didn't leave the table, Kendra was going to cause some trouble. "All right, let's go to the back. This game is on hold. Have a round at the bar, on me," Andy said to the other players.

The other players shrugged and went to the bar. Kendra followed Andy into the backroom and shut the door behind her. There were four chairs and a card table. There was a couch along one wall as well as a private bathroom. Obviously, this room was reserved for illegal high stake poker games and "business" meetings.

Kendra ignored Andy's request to take a seat. "Andy, have you heard anything about who would want to kill Hunter?"

"He's worked a lot of cases, Kendra. Putting a lot of crooks in prison. He's bound to have upset a lot of people."

Kendra frowned. "There isn't anyone specific in your mind."

"No," Andy said as he shook his head.

Kendra gripped the back of one of the chairs and squeezed until her knuckles turned white. "What about the case he was working on? Do you know anything about that?"

"You know Hunter, he doesn't discuss his cases. The only time he talks about a case is after it's closed or if he thinks I might have some information. I'm sorry about Hunter, Kendra. He is strong and will make it through."

"Yeah," Kendra replied as she walked out of the room. She ignored the looks she retrieved from the bar patrons as she walked through the bar to get to the door. She stepped outside into the warm sunshine that she didn't feel.

She couldn't believe that no one had any information for her. Hunter must have spoken to someone or let someone know what was going on. She just couldn't believe that he didn't tell her.

Kendra stood next to her car, wondering what to try next. She felt a hand grab onto her shoulder.

Kendra grabbed her attacker's arm, bent down and heaved her attacker over her shoulder. Her attacker landed on his back, letting out a grunt of surprise.

Kendra looked at her attacker and frowned when she recognized him. "Will, what are you doing here?"

"Nice to see you too, Kendra," Will replied as he struggled to get some air into his lungs. His green eyes reflected his cocky grin causing Kendra to sigh.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

guardianM3: Please review.


	7. Chapter 7: Will

Disclaimer: The characters of, "Sons of Thunder" and "Walker Texas Ranger", are owned by Chuck Norris, Aaron Norris, CBS and whoever else was involved with the creation and production of these two shows. Any new characters and story lines that come into play are of my own creation. No copyright infringement is intended. This is a fanfiction intended for entertainment purposes only and no money is being made off of it.

* * *

Chapter 7: Will

Kendra sighed and removed her foot from Will's chest. She leaned down and held out her hand.

Will accepted her hand and was surprised at the little effort she needed to pull him to his feet.

"Are you going to answer my question?" Kendra asked her blue eyes dark.

"Wow, you certainly are rude to your boyfriend's brother." His green eyes didn't waver when she shot him a look.

The green eyes were the only resemblance that Will and Hunter shared. Where Hunter had fair hair that was neatly trimmed his brother had dirty blonde hair that was a little long. Hunter had gotten his father's slim, yet muscular build while Will had gotten his grandfather's broad shoulders and large chest. Will was deeply tanned from spending a lot of time outdoors while his brother had a light tan since he was always in a courtroom or in an office.

"I'm not going to wait much longer for an answer Will," Kendra said crossing her arms and tilted her head slightly.

Will didn't flinch at Kendra's gaze. "I'm here because of Hunter. Why else would I come here all the way from LA?"

"Why aren't you at the hospital?"

"Why aren't _you _at the hospital?" Will sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Why don't I show you why I'm here?"

Kendra raised one eyebrow as she looked at Will. By the look on his face, she figured that it was important.

* * *

"What is it?" Kendra asked staring at the random letters and numbers on the computer screen. She had followed Will back to his motel. He had pulled out his laptop and plugged in a flash drive.

"It's in code. Hunter sent me a package with this flash drive. I got it a couple of days ago. I popped it into my computer and I got this." Will pointed at the screen and sighed. He knew he never should have taught Hunter how to create complex codes.

"Do you know what it means?"

Will shook his head. "No idea, but that's because I have only half of the code."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, that this flash drive is only giving me just half of the puzzle. I didn't know why Hunter sent this to me, but then Uncle Lyle called and told me what happened. I think that whatever information that is on this flash drive is why Hunter is fighting for his life."

"He didn't send me a flash drive or anything."

"Do you know if he has a deposit box somewhere?"

"No, not that I know of," Kendra said as she shook her head.

"Well, I would think he would have given you the other flash drive, but maybe he didn't want to put you in any danger." At the look that Kendra gave him he continued. "Not that you wouldn't place yourself in danger anyway."

Kendra bit her lip as her eyes squeezed shut. "Maybe Hunter did leave it for me, but I have to figure out where he put it."

"Well, I think we can rule out his apartment. He wouldn't have left it there."

"No, he wouldn't. I also don't think he would have left it at Cassie's house. He wouldn't want to put her life in danger. I can definitely rule out my old apartment, since its not there anymore. Probably not in his office either."

"So, where would he leave it? It would have to be someplace that only you would think of and not the guy who tried to kill him."

"Great!" Kendra said sarcastically.

"Hey, I don't know why Hunter pulled me into this when all he had to do was call his Ranger friends. Unless they are somehow involved."

Kendra glared at Will. "You've met them, haven't you? Than you know that they are not involved in whatever case Hunter has been working on."

Will raised his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay." Will lowered his hands and crossed them over his chest. He turned his head back to the screen. He wondered what his brother had discovered and whether it had been worth his life. Will knew that he was going to find out who hurt Hunter and bring them to justice. No matter what happened to him.

* * *

Trent walked into the Rangers' office and saw Cassie sitting in a chair taking small sips from a cup. "Hey guys, what's going on?"

"Trent, did something happen to Tyler or Hunter?" Kim asked as she jumped out of her chair and stood in front of him with her eyes wide.

"Tyler is fine and Hunter is the same," Trent sighed and realized why they were all frantic. "Kendra."

"Yeah, you haven't seen her or heard from her, have you?" Carlos asked. Trent shook his head.

"I haven't found her anywhere. I call her cell, but it goes straight to voicemail," Cassie said as she set her cup onto Trivette's desk.

"So that means she has it off, so we can't trace her," Trivette said.

"We know that she's going after Hunter's attacker, but what we don't know is what she knows," Kim said as she plopped back down in her chair and rested her chin in the palm of her right hand.

"It's not just that, Kim. We have no idea what Kendra's going to do. She might be in a blind rage or God knows what!" Gage exclaimed.

Cassie shook her head. "No, Kendra wouldn't do anything outside of the law." Cassie paused for a moment. "Technically. At least she wouldn't do what you're thinking and afraid to say."

"So, instead of all of us working on finding Hunter's attacker, some of us have to work on finding Kendra."

"No," Walker said firmly. "Kendra can take care of herself. Besides, the only way we are going to find Kendra is to find out who shot Hunter."

Everyone agreed and got back to work. They just hoped that they would find Hunter's attacker before Kendra did since they didn't know what Kendra was going to do.

* * *

guardianM3: I hope no one was disappointed about Will being Hunter's brother. I did mention he had a brother in the last story. I never introduced him or mentioned his name. I thought it would be fun to have Will and Kendra get together to find who shot Hunter and why. I know this chapter is a little short, but it was about time that I posted. Please review.


	8. Chapter 8: Needing a Lead

Disclaimer: The characters of, "Sons of Thunder" and "Walker Texas Ranger", are owned by Chuck Norris, Aaron Norris, CBS and whoever else was involved with the creation and production of these two shows. Any new characters and story lines that come into play are of my own creation. No copyright infringement is intended. This is a fanfiction intended for entertainment purposes only and no money is being made off of it.

* * *

Chapter 8: Needing a Lead

Will and Kendra had been making a list of people whom Hunter may have entrusted the other flashdrive to but so far, it had proven to be worthless.

"So, Hunter's friend Andy doesn't have any information that can help us?" Will asked as he scratched another name off the list of possible people and places that may hold the other flash drive that would have the rest of the code.

Kendra shook her head. "Nope."

"So, that leaves us with the Rangers, Alex, your PI friends and your bartender boss."

"I doubt they would have it. They would have mentioned something to me."

"Unless they are going to be receiving it in the mail like I did."

"No, I don't think so. I think Hunter would have sent the other flashdrive to someone that you know. And, I'm guessing that he wouldn't have sent it to someone connected with the DA's office. What about Lyle?"

Will scratched his chin. "Maybe. Maybe not. I think we would have heard from Uncle Lyle by now. He has my number."

"Yeah, but doesn't he think that you're in LA?" Kendra pointed out.

"Yeah, but he would have figured out about the coded flash drive and would have given me a call to help decipher it."

"I guess you are the code expert in your family?"

"Yeah. I taught Hunter some tricks and he took them to a whole new level."

"Hunter is a fast learner," Kendra said unable to keep the pain out of her voice. She wanted to be by his side, but she knew that she had to find out who had hurt him. It was the only way she knew that would make up for the way she had treated him.

Will looked at Kendra and saw the circles under her eyes. He could tell that she was trying to remain standing. "Maybe you should get some sleep."

Kendra frowned. "I'm fine."

"Well, I'm getting get a few winks," Will said as he kicked off his shoes and settled into one of the beds in the room.

Kendra remained sitting on the other bed, wondering where Hunter could have put the other flashdrive. She soon felt the exhaustion that she had kept at bay with her sheer will and decided that she may as well get some sleep.

She kicked off her shoes and went under the covers. She was going to think about possible places that Hunter may have hid the flashdrive but she fell asleep in mere seconds after her head hit the pillow.

Will listened and heard Kendra's breathing began smooth and rhythmic. He was glad that she was getting some sleep. She looked as though she had just recovered from a bad bought of the flu, but he certainly wasn't going to say that to her.

* * *

"So, we still have no idea what Hunter was working on?" Trent asked.

Everyone had been working different angles and speaking with their various contacts to find out if anyone knew what Hunter had been working on.

"Nope. We asked Lyle if Hunter had said anything. It seems that Hunter has kept whatever he was working on quiet. We know that he didn't even tell Kendra," Gage said.

"She must not be happy about that," Carlos said.

"Wouldn't Hunter keep a file or something somewhere so if something happened to him, it would lead us right to the scumbag?" Kim asked.

"I don't think so. He wouldn't have wanted the information to fall into the hands of someone he didn't trust," Gage said.

"So, he must have given the information to someone he could trust and who wouldn't be someone that the bad guys would expect him to give it to." Kim looked at Gage and Sydney. "Right?"

"Definitely sounds like Hunter," Sydney agreed.

"So, all we have to do is find out who Hunter would trust with this information so we can trace it to whoever tried to kill him. Any ideas?" Gage asked.

"College roommate or friends? Family members?" Sydney suggested with frustration in her voice at all the possibilities that would lead to another dead end.

"Doesn't Hunter have a brother or something?"

"Yeah, he came to visit when Hunter was in the hospital before. I think his name was Bill," Carlos said.

"It was Will. Jeesh, Carlos, and you were a cop?" Kim said teasingly.

"I barely even met the guy. Give me a break," Carlos said with fake exasperation in his voice.

"Maybe his brother knows. I think he lives in California. He may have given his brother the information knowing that it would be safe in his brother's hands. Maybe he even gave his brother any evidence that he had gathered," Sydney said, wondering if she had gotten far beyond the possible.

"Let's give it a shot. I'll call Lyle and get the number," Trivette said as he picked up the phone and began dialing.

Everyone in the room hoped that this would be leading them in the right direction. If not, without a lead, they were left with nothing to help them.

* * *

"Here ya go," Butch said as he handed the cup filled with strong coffee to Lyle.

"Thanks, Butch." Lyle sighed as he looked down at the coffee that still had a swirl of brown and black, the cream having not been stirred enough.

Butch sat across from Lyle and waited silently while his friend worked on his thoughts.

"Maybe I should be at the hospital," Lyle said guiltily, forgetting about the coffee in front of him.

"You know that Hunter wouldn't have wanted you to sit around, hovering over him the entire time. When he wakes up, the doctor will give you a call."

"Yes, I know. What I don't understand is why did Kendra leave?"

"I think she's working on finding out who hurt Hunter. I don't think she'll stop until she gets him."

"Yes, the sounds like Kendra. I worry about her. What if this guy goes after Kendra because she's taking a look around?"

"Kendra can handle herself, but I know that the Rangers and the PIs are working together. They'll make sure that they help keep her safe."

"How can they keep her safe when they don't know where she is?"

"Since they all looking for the same thing, they are bound to cross paths. I wouldn't worry, Lyle, it'll all work out."

"How do you know that, Butch?"

Butch shrugged his shoulders. "I just know."

Before Lyle could respond, his phone rang. He excused himself and picked up the phone. Butch looked up when Lyle mentioned Trivette. The bartender hoped that something hadn't gone wrong with Hunter or with Kendra.

"Uh, sure. What is this about, anyway?" Lyle said into the phone.

Butch frowned and wondered what Trivette wanted. He waited while Lyle gave Trivette a phone number that had an area code that Butch knew wasn't for Texas. After a moment, Lyle said good-bye to Trivette and hung up the phone.

"What did Jimmy want?" Butch asked.

"He wanted Will's number. Will is Hunter's brother," Lyle explained once he saw the look on Butch's face.

"Ah, I remember him. He came out when Hunter was in the hospital before. Why would Jimmy want his number?" Butch asked as several ideas crossed his mind, hoping that Hunter didn't need a transplant or something, but it would have been the doctor to call Lyle, not Jimmy.

"I asked him the same thing, but he was a little evasive. I'm guessing it has to do with whatever Hunter had been working on." Lyle hadn't thought of that at the beginning, but it was possible. Even though Will and Hunter were different, especially when they were kids, they were still close and would rely on one another for anything. Now, instead of worrying about one nephew, he had to worry about two.

Butch saw the worry on Lyle's face and knew what was on his friend's mind. "Hey, let's go to the hospital and hang out with Hunter. We could talk to him. Doc O'Connell said that has been known to help when people are unconscious."

"Sure, why not?"

"You can even tell embarrassing stories that is sure to get Hunter to wake up."

"I think that would only work if Kendra was in the room."

"Yeah, but it may still work."

Lyle smiled for the first time since he had heard that Hunter was in the hospital. He hoped that his nephew would be all right and that his other nephew wouldn't get into any trouble, but he had this nagging feeling that Will had already met with trouble.

* * *

guardianM3: Please review. I'm taking this in a different turn than I had expected. That tends to happen a lot, but I hope that the turns prove to turn the story in the right direction. I know this chapter is all dialogue and no action, but I hope to have some soon.


	9. Chapter 9: A Dream & Some Goons

Disclaimer: The characters of, "Sons of Thunder" and "Walker Texas Ranger", are owned by Chuck Norris, Aaron Norris, CBS and whoever else was involved with the creation and production of these two shows. Any new characters and story lines that come into play are of my own creation. No copyright infringement is intended. This is a fanfiction intended for entertainment purposes only and no money is being made off of it.

* * *

Chapter 9: A Dream and Some Goons

_Kendra was wandering aimlessly in a forest when a door appeared before a giant oak. She went to the door and grabbed the knob. She found herself in Hunter's apartment and Hunter was sitting at the table, waiting for her with a smile. _

_"Hunter!" Kendra yelled as the door slammed shut behind her causing her to jump. _

_Hunter stood up and quickly floated out of the room. Kendra followed, wondering where Hunter was going. He stopped just before his bedroom door. He looked at Kendra sadly, as he went through the door. _

_Kendra stepped up to the door and stretched out a shaking hand. She turned the knob and slowly opened the door. Kendra fell to the floor. _

_On the bed was Hunter, covered in blood. His face was turned toward her and she could see the death in his green eyes. _

_Kendra turned around and stopped abruptly when she almost ran into a closed door. She grabbed the knob and turned it, trying to move as quickly as she could to get away from the horrendous sight. It felt as though she was moving through heavy water._

_As she passed through the doorway, she fell to her knees and gasped to catch her breath. She heard beeping noises and raised her head to find the source. Just a foot in front of her was a hospital bed. _

_Kendra rose to her feet and looked down at Hunter, who was hooked up to several machines and had a tube down his throat, which brought tears to her eyes. _

_"Hunter," Kendra whispered as she grabbed his pale hand, allowing the tears to slide down her cheeks. _

_Suddenly, the room before Kendra began to spin. Kendra tried to hold on to Hunter, but his hand was pulled out of her own. _

_The spinning stop and Kendra realized she was in Hunter's apartment in the dining room. _

_"Hello, Kendra," Hunter said as he walked out of the kitchen._

_"Hunter?" Kendra asked, confused and wondering what was going on. _

_"Come on, Kendra. You know where it is," Healthy Hunter said as he leaned against the counter. _

_"How am I supposed to know? Did you even want me to find it?" Kendra asked with frustration. _

_"Don't you know that I trust you with all my heart? I know that you can handle yourself, even though it seems like I want to wrap you up in bubble wrap to protect you," Hospital Hunter said, lying on the hospital bed, surrounded by flowers and balloons._

_Kendra crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? Bubble wrap?" _

_Healthy Hunter had returned and with a grin on his face. His image flashed back to him lying in the hospital bed before he returned as Healthy Hunter standing before her. "Yes. It's just that 'man gene' that tells me to protect the woman that I love. I won't let it interfere."_

_"Good, you had better not let it. So, where's the other flashdrive?"_

_Healthy Hunter's grin became a frown as his image changed to him lying on in his bedroom covered in more blood than had been in reality. It was the image of Dead Hunter and it struck a knife deep into Kendra's heart. _

_Kendra was about to spring forward to stop the bleeding but then Healthy Hunter returned. _

_"You know where it is. All you have to do is start thinking of me and you'll find it." The images of Hunter began to flicker through Hospital Hunter, Healthy Hunter and Dead Hunter. _

* * *

Will slowly opened his eyes, taking a few minutes for his brain to wake up and tell him where he was and what he was doing in this place. Finally, his brain told him that he was in a motel because of his brother. His brain then reminded him about his brother's girlfriend who should be in the room.

Will sat up, looked over to his right, saw that Kendra was in the other bed, and saw that she was asleep.

He looked at his phone and saw that he had a message. He flipped open his phone and dialed the voicemail number. He punched in his password and waited to hear the message that had been left.

_"Hi, this is Ranger Jimmy Trivette. I'm friends with your brother, Hunter. I was wondering if you had received anything from him lately that might be important or maybe a little strange. Please return my call. Thanks. Bye."_

Will saved the voicemail and closed his phone. He tapped his phone on his chin, wondering if he should return Ranger Trivette's call. He was also wondering what he should tell Ranger Trivette.

He turned to Kendra when he heard her whimper. He got out of bed and gently shook her.

Kendra's eyes shot open and her fist flew toward Will. Will stepped back, just as Kendra pulled back her fist.

"Sorry," Kendra said as she sat up and rubbed her temples, trying to get the many images of Hunter out of her mind.

"It's ok. You didn't hit me," Will said as he sat down on his bed. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah. Just a weird dream." Kendra stood up and shook her head.

"Ah. I was going to ask if you slept well, but I guess that would be a pointless question at this point." Will stood up and grabbed a clean shirt from his suitcase. "Well, we have to figure out what we are going to do today."

Kendra's eyebrow rose questioningly in Will's direction. She knew that he was hiding something. She decided to not worry about that right now and turned her attention back to her dream.

Will went into the bathroom, not noticing the look that Kendra had just given him. After a few minutes, Will returned to the room, placing his dirty shirt in a plastic bag.

"I know where it is," Kendra said as she realized what Hunter had been trying to tell her.

Will turned around and looked at Kendra. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the flashdrive. I know where it is."

"How? Where?" Will asked, hoping that Kendra was right.

"Hunter told me where and we can go there right now," Kendra said as she headed toward the door.

Will threw his hands into the air. "Wait, how could Hunter tell you when he's in the hospital and he's unconscious?"

Kendra turned and looked at Will with fiery blue eyes. "Just, trust me. Okay?"

Before Will could answer, someone pounded on the door.

"Who knows you're here?" Kendra whispered, recognizing the feeling that had appeared in her gut.

"Just you," Will replied as a bad feeling filled him.

The pounding returned but before Will and Kendra could do anything, the door swung open. Will and Kendra stared at the seven-foot man who looked as though he could be a sumo wrestler.

"Uh, are you housekeeping?" Will asked trying to think of a way to get Kendra out of there.

The man grinned and brought his hands together. The man began to crack his knuckles which caused Kendra and Will to both wince, understanding the message.

Kendra and Will heard someone behind Knuckles cough. Knuckles moved inside and stepped aside. Two men, wearing black gloves and suits stepped into the room. Knuckles shut the door and the man on the left pulled out a gun.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" The man in the middle said. He looked as though he would be more comfortable in a pair of ratty jeans and a flannel shirt than the suit he was wearing. His dark wheat colored hair needed a good comb or perhaps an expert barber.

Kendra and Will didn't respond to the man's question. They both wondered who these men were and what they were doing there, but they believed that probably had something to do with Hunter's secret case.

"Perhaps this is some sort of romantic rendezvous?" The man asked, carefully studying Kendra from head to toe.

"Who the hell are you and what do you want?" Kendra asked her voice sounding as though it could shatter a diamond.

The leader of the goons looked startled for a moment at the tone in Kendra's voice but he quickly regained his composure. His face darkened as he took a step closer to Kendra. "I know that you have something that we want."

"Oh, really. What would that be?" Will said as he took a step closer to Kendra, hoping that she wouldn't do anything reckless.

The leader turned his head to look at Will. "You know what I am here for."

"A lesson," Kendra said as she jumped toward the man with the gun and knocked it out of his hand.

The lead goon was about to attack Kendra, when Will punched him, breaking the man's jaw. The lead goon howled in pain. Will saw the man reach into his coat pocket and knew that the goon was going for a gun. Will threw a couple more punches before the lead goon had been knocked out.

While Will had been fighting the lead goon, Kendra had been throwing punches and kicks at Knuckles. Kendra had managed to avoid any of the big goon's punches, in which she was thankful.

Kendra, getting tired of dodging the goon's punches, decided it was time to take him down. Kendra pulled back her arm to strengthen the blow. She hit the large man right on chin, causing his blocky head to snap back.

Kendra, noticing that the big goon was unsteady on his feet, swept his feet out from under him.

Will looked at Kendra with surprise in his eyes. "Let's get out of here."

Kendra agreed with a nod of her head and ran out the door. Will grabbed his laptop and followed behind her.

"They know that we have the evidence or they think we do," Will said as he came to stand next to Kendra who was opening the door to the driver's seat of her car.

"Gee, Will, ya think? Get in the car," Kendra ordered as she was about to sit down.

"I think I should drive," Will said as he grabbed onto the car door.

"Just get in the damn car!" Kendra yelled.

Just as Will was going to protest, the goons came running out of the motel room each holding a gun in his hand.

"I'm driving," Kendra said as she got into the driver's seat.

Will ran around the front of the car. Kendra had already buckled her seat belt and had started the car before Will got into the passenger seat. He placed the laptop at his feet.

"Buckle up," Kendra ordered as she put the car in drive and hit the gas.

Will quickly buckled his seatbelt and braced himself as the forces threw him around. "Kendra, slow down!"

Kendra looked in the mirror and saw that a dark sedan had pulled into view about six car lengths behind. "If I slow down, we're dead! Just hold on."

Will was about to comment that he was indeed holding on, when Kendra made several sharp turns. Kendra didn't seem to hear the horns blaring at her or the sound of screeching tires as other drivers hit their brakes to avoided hitting other vehicles.

"Why did you have to have a motel that was just outside of Dallas?" Kendra asked as she headed out into the country.

"Many reasons. One reason was I didn't want people to know I was in town."

"It's a city, not a town," Kendra said as she turned down a few more roads and checked the rearview mirror to see if the dark sedan was still following them.

Will was about to comment when Kendra spoke. "Well, I don't think they'll be able to follow us now."

Will breathed a sigh of relief and looked in the side mirror. "I think you spoke a little too soon."

Kendra looked in her mirror and swore underneath her breath. "I'm going to try to lose them. Just don't complain about my driving."

Will decided that since Kendra was currently at the wheel trying to get away from three goons with guns, that it was definitely a good idea not to complain about Kendra's driving.

Kendra had made several turns and had ended up on a dirt road. Will wondered if Kendra knew where she was going because it seemed as though she was taking them further from the city and further away from any assistance from any law enforcement.

"Have you ever seen the '_Dukes of Hazzard'_ and how they get out of being chased?" Kendra asked.

"Uh, yeah. Why?" Will asked, confused as he held on as Kendra turned sharply onto a dirt road and headed into the woods.

"You'll see," Kendra said as she gave Will a mischievous grin.

Will was about to ask Kendra when she took a sharp turn around a bunch of trees and came to a sudden stop. He was about to ask Kendra what she thought she was doing when she pointed out her window.

He looked out to his left and saw that someone or a group of people had made a ramp of dirt that would send someone flying over a large ditch. From where he and Kendra were parked, it was easily recognizable as a jumping ramp, but if you were flying down the road and not paying close enough attention…well…you wouldn't know what you were headed for.

Will heard the car coming down the dirt before he saw it drive past were they were hidden.

The dark sedan went flying into the air over the manmade jumping ditch. A few seconds later, Will heard the sound of a car landing none too gently. He waited for the sound of guns going off but he didn't hear it but he did hear a sound like a car crashing into a tree.

"I told them to get rid of those trees," Kendra said with a sigh.

Will turned to Kendra, glad that the goons were currently out of commission but was still shocked at what had occurred. "What was that?"

"Kids use it as a dirt biking jump," Kendra replied calmly.

"How do you know about it?" Will asked but Kendra just raised an eyebrow.

Will sighed. "Never mind. What's the plan, now?"

"We get the flashdrive," Kendra replied as though they hadn't just had guns pointed at them and had been in a car chase.

"Right. You know where it is?" Will asked, still wondering how Kendra figured it out.

"Yeah, all I had to do was think about Hunter."

"Ok," Will said skeptically.

Kendra shot Will a look before she backed the car around and headed down the narrow dirt road. Will began to wonder what his brother saw in Kendra, but he had a feeling that he was going to find out.

* * *

guardianM3: I know, you all probably think the car jump was lame, but I found it amusing. Anyway, I hope the dream sequence wasn't boring; I was trying to make it interesting. By the way, I wrote a majority of this chapter while I was sick, so that will account for some of the weirdness. I hope the length of the chapter makes up for the time that it has taken to update.


	10. Chapter 10:The Flashdrive

Disclaimer: The characters of, "Sons of Thunder" and "Walker Texas Ranger", are owned by Chuck Norris, Aaron Norris, CBS and whoever else was involved with the creation and production of these two shows. Any new characters and story lines that come into play are of my own creation. No copyright infringement is intended. This is a fanfiction intended for entertainment purposes only and no money is being made off of it.

* * *

Chapter 10: The Flashdrive

Kendra drove, keeping an eye out for the dark sedan or any vehicle that may possibly be following them. So far, her and Will were the only ones on the road.

"Kendra, we need to call Ranger Walker and tell him what we know," Will said quickly, hoping that Kendra would agree with him.

"No!" Kendra said as she stopped and pulled the car over and put it in park.

"Kendra, we have to contact the Rangers," Will said calmly after he let his stomach settle and hoped that Kendra would calm down.

Kendra took a couple deep breaths before she spoke. "Why? Just a few hours ago you thought the Rangers may have been involved in whatever Hunter was looking into."

"Well, I got a call from Ranger Trivette…" Will began to explain before he was cut off by Kendra.

"When?" Kendra asked, wondering if the Rangers had discovered something.

"Well, when we were sleeping…anyway, I think we should tell them what is going on. Especially since those goons found us at the motel."

"That's exactly why we shouldn't involve the Rangers. At least, not yet. We have to get the other flashdrive first and give you a chance to crack the code."

"Kendra, we can't do this on our own," Will said and held his tongue about Hunter doing this investigation on his own and getting hurt in the process.

Kendra bit her lip. "We have to. We cannot contact the Rangers right now when we don't have the evidence. We would be leading them right to the Rangers and they may kill the Rangers first."

"Or if we get the flashdrive the goons may grab it before we can get the evidence to the Rangers," Will pointed out, wondering how is brother could deal with a stubborn woman.

"Look, the less people involved at this time, the better chance we will have to get the other flashdrive and decode it."

Will sighed, knowing that he wouldn't be winning the argument with Kendra. "All right, let's get the other flashdrive and solve the code."

Kendra nodded her head as she put the car in drive and pulled out onto the road and headed back to Dallas. Will hoped that Kendra was right about the location of the flashdrive and that they would be able to retrieve it in time before the goons found them.

* * *

Will followed Kendra into the Coffee Bean Café. He thought it was a decent looking place, especially with the two realistic looking trees by the entrance and the nicely painted trim. It was a typical looking café with small round tables and chairs, but in the far corner were a large couch and several plush armchairs. He wondered why Kendra thought the flashdrive would be hidden at a coffee house.

"Are you sure that the flashdrive is here? It's a coffee house," Will said with doubt in his voice.

"Trust me," Kendra said, hoping that she was right and hadn't pulled Will into some crazy chase created within her own mind.

Will looked up and saw a girl with purple hair with a punk-style look to it. "Who's the girl with the purple hair?" He asked in a whisper as they walked around a couple that was headed out the door.

"That's Shania. She worked here every summer since she turned sixteen."

Will looked at Kendra with a raised eyebrow.

"Hunter and I come in here a lot. This is where we had our first date," Kendra explained as she went up to the counter.

"Hi, Kendra," Shania said with a charming grin that she used for every customer that came into the café.

"Hi, Shania," Kendra greeted and saw the look that Shania had just given Will.

"This is Hunter's brother, Will. He's here in town to see Hunter." Kendra kept her voice as calm as possible so that none of the anger that had taken over her heart to break through into her voice. Kendra couldn't wait to stand before the man or the men that had tried to kill Hunter.

"Oh, yes, I'm sorry about Hunter," Shania said sincerely before her eyes returned to Will and had once again become a dazed and starry look.

Kendra cleared her throat several times before Shania brought her eyes back to Kendra. Kendra smiled sweetly and spoke in a casual voice. "Was Hunter in here recently?"

Shania's eyes widened at Kendra's question.

Kendra kept herself from sighing and just held her smile in place. "I meant did Hunter come in here before he had been hurt? A time when I wasn't with him," Kendra added.

"Oh, yes a few times," Shania replied nodding her head.

Kendra bit her lip to keep from yelling at Shania. "Right. Was he acting strange or did he give something to you to keep hidden?"

Shania giggled. "Oh, don't be silly. Why would Hunter give me something to hide?"

"Of course, why did that even come to my mind?" Kendra said wondering why she was following a lead to the flashdrive from a dream.

Will decided that he had better bring up a safe topic to give Kendra time to cool down before she said or did something that she would regret. "Those trees by the door look so realistic."

Shania's face brightened. "Oh, Hunter thought that adding the trees would add to the décor of the café."

"Hunter suggested the plants?" Will asked with surprise.

"Yes, he did. He thought it would add a homier atmosphere." Shania said with a soft sigh.

"That's Hunter. I'm going to go check out the plants," Kendra said as she turned and went to the door.

Shania was about to protest when Will decided to ask Shania some questions about working at the coffee café. With just a smile, Will had Shania's full attention.

Kendra returned to Will and tapped him on the shoulder. Will gave Shania an apologetic smile before he turned and looked at Kendra. Kendra tapped the front pocket of her jeans. Will sighed in relief before he turned his attention back to Shania and told her that he had to go.

Shania sighed and told Will to come to see her again. Will said he would if he had the chance. He followed Kendra out the door, feeling Shania's eyes studying him.

He wondered if he would get the chance to return to the Coffee Bean Café and see if anything would happen with Shania. He quickly chided himself for being so pessimistic and had wondered where it had come from.

* * *

The three goons entered the room, all of them were nervous as they stood in front of the desk of their boss. The boss gave them several minutes to squirm as he continued to read the file on his desk.

The boss looked up, his eyes piercing and dark. "Where are they, Russell?" The boss asked the man with the wheat colored hair.

Russell took a deep breath. "They got away. We chased after them, but, boy, can that girl can drive!" Russell's eyes widened as he realized what he had just said and he prayed that his boss was in a forgiving mood. He doubted it.

The boss slammed his fists on the table, causing Russell to jump. Russell knew the stories about his boss's temper and he didn't want to be on the receiving end.

"I don't care if that girl can drive. I just want them both dead before they find Prescott's evidence against me!"

"Yes, Boss. I'll get everyone on it," Russell said with a nod, trying to hide the pain from his ulcer that had started to bother him.

"Yes, while your men are looking for Prescott's brother and Prescott's girlfriend, I'll have my insiders keeping an eye on the Rangers and their friends. I have worked too hard and too long to keep my dealings from being made public as well as my contacts."

"Of course, Boss. Right away Boss," Russell said as he quickly exited the room, followed by his men.

The Boss sighed and went to the bookcase. He pulled out a couple of books and reached his hand into the opening. He pulled out a bottle of whiskey and grabbed the glass from a cabinet next to the bookcase. He filled the glass and drank it down. He felt the liquid slide down his throat and instantly warmed him.

He looked out the window and swore to himself that he wouldn't let any of his secrets, past or present, to be unearthed when he had worked hard to bury them all.

* * *

Gage and Sydney had left Ranger Headquarters to go and get food for everyone. Trivette and Walker had gone to question some possible suspects that would have reason to try and kill Hunter, leaving Carlos, Trent and Kim to continue searching the computer for any leads.

Carlos pounded several keys on the keyboard and once again, Kim shot him a look to stop abusing the poor computer.

Carlos ignored the look that Kim had given him and decided that he'd had enough of the computer that hadn't given him any decent information. "Hey, I'm going to go check with someone about who Hunter might've been investigating," Carlos said as he stood up and pulled his jacket off of the back of the chair.

"Uh, you have a contact? Who is it?" Kim asked, wondering why Carlos hadn't mentioned this contact before.

Carlos pulled his jacket on and tugged on the collar. "Butch isn't the only one who has contacts in this town."

"Do I know this contact?" Trent asked.

"Actually…no," Carlos replied.

"Why don't I know this contact?" Kim asked with curiosity.

Carlos gave Kim an incredulous look. "Hey, look, it's my contact and this contact doesn't like me bringing strangers in. Okay?"

Kim and Trent both raised an eyebrow at Carlos' tone. Carlos sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I'll be back in a couple of hours. Don't worry, Kim, I have my cell and my gun."

"So, when you meet with this contact, you need your gun?"

Carlos took a deep breath. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

"All right, but be careful," Kim said biting her lip as she watched Carlos leave the room. Kim looked at Trent with worry reflecting in her brown eyes.

Trent gave Kim a reassuring smile. "There's nothing to worry about, Kim. Now, come on, we have a lot more work to do."

Kim nodded and returned to the computer. She prayed that everything would be resolved without anyone getting hurt or killed.

* * *

guardianM3: Please review.


	11. Chapter 11: Carlos' Contact

Disclaimer: The characters of, "Sons of Thunder" and "Walker Texas Ranger", are owned by Chuck Norris, Aaron Norris, CBS and whoever else was involved with the creation and production of these two shows. Any new characters and story lines that come into play are of my own creation. No copyright infringement is intended. This is a fanfiction intended for entertainment purposes only and no money is being made off of it.

* * *

Chapter 11: Carlos' Contact

Kendra paced as Will inserted the second flashdrive into his laptop. He wished that she would sit down, but decided not to say a word. He began creating the program that would decode the combined flashdrives. He knew it would take awhile to create the program and probably even longer to decode whatever was on the flashdrives. He knew his brother would have ensured that the information would be difficult to retrieve.

Will wondered how Kendra had known about this abandoned house, but he decided not to ask. It was in decent condition and the sell sign was still out front, but there seemed to be some sort of feeling about the house that didn't settle well with Will. He realized that it didn't matter because it was just a house and a feeling couldn't hurt him, but he couldn't help looking over his shoulder every few minutes. He wondered if that was because of the house or because there were people trying to kill him and Kendra.

He continued to work on the program and hoped that his brother hadn't decided to set up some type of safeguard that would render his program useless. If there was some type of safeguard, then it would take even longer to figure out a program that would decipher the information retrieved from the combined flashdrives.

Kendra began to reconsider Will's idea about contacting the Rangers. Before she had wanted to wait because she felt that, she had to solve this case to make it up to Hunter. She still felt guilty about how she had treated Hunter. She wondered why Will hadn't questioned her reasoning for not contacting the Rangers when the reason she had given him had been rather weak.

She decided that they might as well wait until Will solves Hunter's coded flashdrives. Otherwise, they would be bringing the Rangers two coded flashdrives and two people who were being chased by three goons trying to steal the flashdrives.

Kendra stopped pacing as she realized something that she should had earlier on. The goons didn't know about the flashdrives. The leader had only said that she and Will had something that he wanted, but he never said the word flashdrive.

Will raised an eyebrow as he looked at Kendra when he realized that she had frozen. "Uh, Kendra, are you ok?"

Kendra turned and looked at Will. "The goons, they didn't know about the flashdrives."

Will frowned and recalled everything that had been said in the motel room and realized that Kendra was right. "So, why does this matter?"

"What would the goons have been expecting?" Kendra asked as she allowed her mind to wonder about the possibilities.

"Does it really matter? We have the flashdrives and I'm working on the program that will decode them." We are also safe, Will thought, but decided to keep that to himself.

Kendra nodded but Will saw that she was biting her lip and knew that she was thinking about it and had decided that it was important. Will sighed and returned to his program, still wondering why and how his brother had fallen in love with her.

* * *

Carlos pounded on the door once again and waited for his contact to answer. He studied the area around him as he waited for his contact to answer the door. He stood outside a well-kept up house and lawn. Carlos had noticed that the lawn had a sprinkler system and the hedges were neatly trimmed.

Carlos was quickly losing patience when the door opened but only enough for him to see a Hispanic man with long, unkempt hair peer out. He was a bit overweight and his nose was slightly off center, due to his nose being broken numerous times. He wore a clean navy blue t-shirt and jeans.

Carlos could see the security chain hanging from the top of the door. He wondered if Juan knew why he had come to see him.

Juan Pena and Carlos had been in the same gang when they were young. Unlike Carlos who left of his own accord and had made something of himself, Juan still maintained a position in the gang. Of course, as several areas of law enforcement had taken down several gangs and many members of gangs that had little power left.

Carlos wasn't surprised that Juan was still a free man. Many took in his appearance and believed that he couldn't even read a simple children's book. Juan was clever and with a highly estimated IQ, he had many abilities that proved useful to his gang. It also gave him the advantage to make sure that no evidence connected him to the gang.

Carlos could sense that Juan was nervous, even though the man showed no visible signs of being nervous. Carlos wondered why Juan was nervous, but decided that the man probably believed he wouldn't be able to stay undetected for long.

"Hey, amigo. What do you want?" Juan asked narrowing his eyes as he studied Carlos' expression and body language.

"Need to talk. Inside," Carlos said his tone low and serious.

Juan studied Carlos for a moment before he unlatched the security chain and motioned for Carlos to enter his house.

Juan led Carlos into the kitchen and opened the door to the fridge. He looked over his shoulder. "Want a beer?"

"Sure," Carlos replied, knowing that Juan would be suspicious if he had refused the offer.

Juan brought out two long-necked bottles of expensive, imported beer. He set them on the table and opened them with a bottle opener that he grabbed from a drawer next to the fridge. He passed one of the beers to Carlos, who took a quick sip.

"So, Carlos, why are you here? I don't think it's to visit an "old friend"." Juan smiled at Carlos as he took a drink.

Carlos didn't blink as he stared hard into Juan's brown eyes. "Come on, Juan, what do you know about Hunter Prescott?"

"He's an ADA," Juan replied.

Carlos sighed and grabbed his wallet from his back pocket. He pulled out five twenties and set them on the table, keeping his hand on the bills. He made certain that Juan could see the amount of money that he had laid on the table. "You know what I want to know, Juan. I'm prepared to pay you but only if you provide me decent information that leads to whoever tried to kill Prescott."

Juan looked at the bills on the table. He calculated in his head if the money he was about to receive was a good price for risking his life to give Carlos some answers. He did need the money since his credit card scheme had been detected. Of course, he made certain that the fraud wouldn't be linked to him in any way, but he decided that it would be best not try anything illegal for the time being.

Juan took a long drink from his beer before he made his decision. "All right, I'll tell you what I have heard." Juan paused for dramatic effect, just to watch as Carlos' eyes flickered with anticipation at a lead.

"Juan, I'm not in the mood to be patient," Carlos warned, his brown eyes becoming darker.

Juan cleared his throat, knowing that Carlos had quite a temper. "I heard that Prescott was snooping into something dangerous."

Carlos took a sip of his beer and waited for Juan to continue.

"He was looking into some connections about some old murders and other suspicious activities involving some old mob boss. His name was Royce."

Carlos nodded, knowing quite a bit about Greg Royce. He was a big time mob boss and had connections all throughout the United States and South America. He had been a big time drug dealer when he had first ruled his drug world with an iron fist. No one wanted to stand against him because he would have him or her disappear in an instant. There had been rumors that he had the people buried in cement or sometimes buried alive in a coffin. Either way, people had been too afraid to go against him.

It wasn't until a team of FBI agents had discovered a large load of clean, uncut cocaine connected to Royce. It wasn't long before Royce tried to kill off the team of agents, but he made a mistake when one of the agents' brothers that had been killed instead of that agent. It was then that the agent had asked Walker and his team to join in bringing down Royce, once and for all.

Once he had been arrested, it had been discovered that he had been connected to a big human trafficking ring. Not too soon after that, the human trafficking had been linked to several wealthy people in the United States. A month before his trial, he was found dead in his cell. He had been beaten to death and to this day, no one knew who had killed him but there were definitely many reasons why someone wanted him dead.

"Does it have something to do with Royce being involved with human trafficking or drugs?" Carlos asked.

Juan shrugged his shoulders. "No clue. All I know is that someone didn't like him looking into Royce.

Carlos sighed with disappointment and wondered why sometimes a lead brings him to a dead end on the case.

"Well, I'll tell you one more thing," Juan said, having decided to give Carlos this last piece of information that he was going to hold onto, but decided that this way, Carlos would owe him one.

Carlos jerked his head up and his eyes narrowed slightly as he studied Juan's face wondering if the man was going to tell him the truth and not some half-truth that wouldn't give him useful information.

"I heard that he discovered something that would shock the entire judiciary system."

Carlos' eyes widened at what Juan had just told them. "Are you telling me that Hunter was going after a judge?"

Juan shrugged his shoulders again and drank the rest of his beer. Juan hoped that Carlos wouldn't be killed working on this case, because Carlos always offered him some minor amusement and it was could to get some cash without worrying about getting arrested.

* * *

Trent sat staring at the monitor that had failed to give him any useful information. He wondered about the identity of Carlos' contact. He rubbed his eyes and yawned.

"Getting tired?" Kim asked beginning to feel the urge to drop onto a nice, soft mattress and her head to lie on a feathery pillow.

Trent yawned. "I've been tired for awhile, now I'm just exhausted."

Kim frowned as worry showed in a crease that had appeared on her forehead. "Maybe you should head home and get some sleep. I doubt we'll be finding out anything. This whole thing is just one big dead end."

He was about to protest when his cell phone rang. He looked at his cell and recognized that it was a number for the hospital. He wondered if it was the doctor with some bad news about Tyler or Hunter. Or it could be his mother, but he figured the best way to know was to answer. "Hello?"

"Hi, son," Katie said cheerfully.

"Hi, Mom. Is something wrong with Tyler?" Trent asked as panic seized him as several possibilities went through his mind. He hadn't noticed his mother's content tone.

"No, no. I just wanted to tell you the good news. Tyler is going home later this evening," Mrs. Malloy said with obvious joy and relief in her voice.

Trent sighed in relief and was glad that his little brother was going home. He could tell, before he left the hospital, that Tyler had been getting anxious being cooped up in his room.

"Will you be coming to see him home? Or are you busy helping the Rangers?"

Trent didn't answer right away as he thought about it. He knew that the Rangers needed him to help solve Hunter's case. He also realized that it may be better if he didn't go because it would be hard on Tommy since Tommy was still angry with Trent.

"Trent, are you there?" Katie asked with concern in her voice.

"Yeah, and I think it's best that I stay here," Trent said as he clutched his cell phone, wondering how his mother would react.

There was a slight pause before Katie sighed softly. "I agree with your decision, Trent. I know it's because of Tommy."

Trent wondered how his mother knew one of the reasons why he was staying to help the Rangers. "Yes."

"I understand. I hope that you find out who harmed Hunter. I know what you have to do, son," Katie said with such conviction that Trent knew that she did understand and wasn't upset about his decision.

A small smile came to his lips. "I will. We will. Goodbye."

Katie said goodbye and hung up the phone. Trent closed his cell phone and stared at it for a moment, wondering if he had made the right decision.

"Trent, what's going on?" Kim asked.

Trent looked up at Kim with a smile. "Tyler is going home tonight."

"That's wonderful news, Trent." Kim realized that Trent was frowning. "What's wrong?"

"I can't be with Tyler when he returns home," Trent said with pain and regret in his voice.

"Why not?" Kim asked with a frown, already guessing as to why he couldn't be there when Tyler went home.

"Because, Hunter may still be in danger as well as Kendra," Trent explained, deciding that he didn't want Kim to get involved with trying to patch his relationship with his brother.

Kim looked at Trent skeptically because she knew that he was only telling her a half-truth. "Trent, no offense, but you've got to knock off this whole guilt trip train that you've jumped on to."

Trent looked at Kim in surprise, but she wasn't about to let him dig deeper into his guilt. She continued before he could brush Kim off the conversation. "I know that one of your reasons has to deal with Tommy. We both know that it's going to take some time for Tommy to forgive you for what you said to him and to forgive himself for Tyler's accident."

Trent nodded because he knew that Kim was right. "I suggest we take a short break. We both need it."

Kim nodded and gave Trent one of her large grins. "Let's get some coffee from the place down the block. I know Sydney and Gage are getting some food, but I really need a good cup of coffee. The stuff in this place could be used as motor oil."

Trent laughed as he stood up and followed Kim out the door. He wondered if Carlos had gotten any leads from his contact, because if not, it was going to be another long night of endless research.

* * *

guardianM3: Please forgive any ignorance on my part dealing with computers, computer codes and everything else related to computers. I am not a computer programmer or anything. I have some computer knowledge, but not enough to really explain what Will is working on or how he is doing it. Anyway, I hope the story has peaked your interest with the information that Carlos received from his "old friend" Juan. Please post a review with your thoughts, ideas, etc. Also, thanks to one reviewer (I don't know if you want me to post your name under my note, even though they can check the reviews to know who I'm talking about), I didn't realize that Kendra's explanation about why she didn't want to contact the Rangers was vague. I don't remember if I had intended that or not, but I was sick at the time, so who knows! Thanks to all my reviewers, so far, who have taken the time to give me some encouragement, ideas and just letting me know that my story isn't too boring.


	12. Chapter 12: A Flutter of Hope

Disclaimer: The characters of, "Sons of Thunder" and "Walker Texas Ranger", are owned by Chuck Norris, Aaron Norris, CBS and whoever else was involved with the creation and production of these two shows. Any new characters and story lines that come into play are of my own creation. No copyright infringement is intended. This is a fanfiction intended for entertainment purposes only and no money is being made off of it.

* * *

Chapter 12: A Flutter of Hope

Sydney and Gage returned to their office with several bags of food, but there was no one in sight. Before Sydney or Gage called anyone, Kim and Trent entered with their own fresh cups of coffee and they even brought Sydney and Gage a cup of coffee.

"Hey, where's Carlos?" Sydney asked as she accepted the cup of coffee that Kim handed her.

"He's gone to see one of his contacts but I don't know if he'll have anything or not," Kim replied as she looked through one of the bags of food that the two Rangers had set on Gage's desk.

"How long is Carlos going to take?" Gage asked as he grabbed a jelly donut.

"Not long, Gage," Carlos said as he entered the room, unable to keep his face from hiding his distress.

"What's wrong, Carlos?" Kim asked.

"I think you all should sit down and I'll tell you what my contact told me," Carlos said as his friends took various seats or leaned against a desk.

Carlos looked around the room and sighed underneath his breath, wondering how he was going to begin. "Hunter has been looking into the old mob boss Greg Royce."

"He's been dead for years," Gage exclaimed, laughed softly and then looked at Sydney with two raised eyebrows. "Right?"

"He was killed in prison, but no one knows who had done the deed or the reason why he was killed. Of course, there were several possibilities, but no evidence," Sydney explained.

"There's more to it than Hunter just looking into Royce's death." Carlos looked at everyone gathered in the room. "Hunter's case has something to do with a judge." Carlos heard Kim gasp as he watched several faces look at him in disbelief.

"Are you sure about this?" Sydney asked. She was shocked that no one in law enforcement would have figured out that a judge was involved in crime. Then she realized that someone had discovered this judge's lawlessness. It had been Hunter.

"My contact wouldn't lie to me," Carlos replied with reassurance in his voice.

Trent raised an eyebrow with a suspicion that Carlos' contact wasn't a model citizen especially since Carlos had said that his contact was nervous around strangers.

Carlos noticed Trent's reaction and shrugged his shoulders, with a grin on his face that softened the worry.

"I think the question we should be asking is how did Hunter learn about this judge?" Kim asked using her pen to twirl her hair.

"He is an ADA so he has a lot of contact with the judges in Dallas," Gage said as he began to run the list of judges through his mind.

"Maybe we should ask Alex if she suspects anything about or judge or if she heard any rumors," Kim suggested.

Sydney shook her head. "Yeah, but if Alex had suspected a judge wasn't on the up and up, she would have told Walker a long time ago."

"Well, maybe she heard some rumors about a judge that wasn't necessarily horrible, but the information could be significant," Gage pointed out.

"Where are Walker and Trivette? Shouldn't they be back by now?" Kim asked with a frown as she leaned back in her chair to see if Walker was in his office.

Trent shrugged his shoulders. "They'll call us if something comes up."

"So, what should we do while we wait for them to get back? Should we call them?" Kim asked.

"No, if they are speaking with their contacts it's best not to disturb them," Sydney warned even though she was thinking about calling the two Rangers herself.

"Was there anything in Hunter's office or at his apartment that contained information about Royce or any judges?" Trent asked Sydney and Gage.

"Nope, not even a name written on a piece of paper," Gage replied realizing what they would need to do.

"I guess we now know where to start looking for Hunter's attacker," Sydney replied as she went to sit at her desk and freed her computer from screen saver.

Everyone silently agreed as they all hopped onto a computer. They quickly decided who would research what and got to work. They hoped that Carlos' information wouldn't pan out to be a dead end and they would have no place to start if that happened.

* * *

Russell scratched his head, trying to figure out where the girl and the guy had gone. He'd had Biff and Squinty contact all of the hotels and motels within the city of Dallas and just outside the city limits. So far, neither of them had found the two elusive troublemakers who had started to get on Russell's nerves.

Russell decided to get in touch with his contacts that he had all over the city. It was possible that one of them had spotted Kendra Stone and Will Prescott. If not, they would have to come out of hiding sooner or later, but Russell hoped that it would be sooner. He knew that if he was getting nervous, his boss would be getting antsy and angry, which he knew would lead to trouble for him.

The Boss had decided to lend Russell a man who could find anyone or anything, using a computer. He was some computer genius who was capable of hacking into police databases, telephone records and many other resources that could lead to whoever or whatever the boss wanted. Russell told him to find any pertinent information that may lead to any possible location that would make the two feel safe.

He decided that a beer would help him relax while he let the computer geek find something that would lead to Stone and Prescott. He hoped that it would happen soon.

* * *

"Hey, Butch. Hey, Lyle." Cassie said as she entered Hunter's hospital room, unable to disguise the weariness and worry on her face.

"Hey, Cassie," Butch greeted as he stood up, offering Cassie his chair, which she accepted and sat down with a heavy sigh.

Butch pulled up a spare chair and placed it next to Cassie. "What's on your mind, Cassie?"

"Everything and everyone," Cassie admitted wondering if she should bother the two men with the worries that had begun to build within her. It hadn't taken long for those worries to become a skyscraper, especially since there had been no word from Kendra or a sign letting them know that she was all right.

Lyle placed his hand on Cassie's shoulder and gave it a gentle, comforting squeeze. "I understand your feelings Cassie. I know that Butch feels the same way."

Butch nodded his head in confirmation. "You can talk about it, Cassie. It always helps to do so."

"I don't need to. As long as you two are here, I'm beginning to feel better. A little bit better, but it's better than nothing!" Cassie tried to work her mouth into a smile but there were still too many worries that wouldn't allow Cassie to give into it.

"I know it must be hard on you, Cassie. Especially since Carlos has been busy working on finding out whatever case Hunter had been working on. I suggest we go out and get something to eat. I know the perfect place," Butch said with a sweet grin, hoping that Cassie would agree to his plan.

Cassie agreed with a slight nod of her head as her gaze landed on Hunter's face and saw movement. "I saw his eyes flutter!" Cassie exclaimed as she jumped out of her chair, went to stand beside Hunter's bed, and stared down at his face, watching for any movement.

Butch looked at Lyle who shared a concerned face and saw that there was a subtle difference in Lyle's and that was a glimmer of hope in the man's eyes.

"I'll go get Dr. O'Connell," Butch said as he left the room, noticing that Lyle had moved to Hunter's side and was studying his nephew's face for a sign that he was truly awake.

Butch went to the nurses' station and requested Dr. O'Connell presence. The brunette nurse with the heart shaped face smiled warmly at him as she paged Dr. O'Connell.

Dr. O'Connell arrived shortly and listened patiently as Butch told her that Cassie had seen Hunter's eyes flutter. Dr. O'Connell gave Butch a reassuring smile as she went into Hunter's room.

Dr. O'Connell placed her hand gently on Lyle's shoulder and gave him her greatest smile. He moved out of her way so she could check on Hunter. As she checked his pulse and the monitors, Cassie and Lyle held their breaths.

"Now, I don't want to get your hopes up, but it's always a good sign when you see that he is moving," Dr. O'Connell said softly, making sure that they all understand her words.

"Is there anything we can do?" Cassie asked her eyes having lost her worries and were now filled with hope.

"Do what you have been doing and that is talk to him. It helps patients to hear the voices of their family and friends whether they are conscious or not."

"Why don't I go out and bring us some food?" Lyle suggested as he grabbed his coat and put it on.

"Are you sure that you don't want me to go?" Butch asked with a raised eyebrow wondering why his friend was willing to leave his nephew when he may have started to wake up.

Lyle nodded and smiled, knowing that he couldn't stay and stare at his nephew until he woke up. He knew that Hunter would want him to get out a little bit and to not become more anxious than he already was feeling. "I think the fresh air will do me some good. Plus, Hunter's probably tired of hearing my voice and since Cassie is here, her sweet voice may bring him back to us."

Cassie walked over to Lyle and gave him a big hug, which surprised the lawyer. "Thank you, Lyle. I needed to hear that," Cassie said as she unwrapped her arms and took a step back, looking into Lyle's green eyes, "but you know that Hunter would never get bored with your voice. I'm sure that when he was little he would listen to you for hours without becoming distracted."

Lyle blushed and smiled brightly at Cassie, feeling better than he had all day. "Well, I better get going before I change my mind but I'll be back soon." Lyle turned and left the room, knowing that his nephew had made some wonderful friends who would be there for him no matter what life trials he would have to go to court in.

* * *

guardianM3: Hello! I know, I know, I'm quite the procrastinator. Let me know what you think about this chapter.


	13. Chapter 13: Hunter's Visitor

Disclaimer: The characters of, "Sons of Thunder" and "Walker Texas Ranger", are owned by Chuck Norris, Aaron Norris, CBS and whoever else was involved with the creation and production of these two shows. Any new characters and story lines that come into play are of my own creation. No copyright infringement is intended. This is a fanfiction intended for entertainment purposes only and no money is being made off of it.

* * *

Chapter 13: Hunter's Visitor

Trivette returned to his partner's truck after he had spoken with one of his contacts that hadn't given him any useful information. Actually, he hadn't even heard a rumor about Hunter's case or about Kendra's whereabouts. Trivette wondered what was taking Walker so long to talk with his own contacts.

Trivette leaned back in the seat and went over everything that had happened in the past week. He tried to focus only on the case but Tyler's accident continued to plague his mind. He could imagine how Tommy felt about the accident. Before he knew it, he knew why Kendra was blaming herself for what happened to Hunter. Of course, she would always be determined to find anyone who harmed her friends.

He was worried about Kendra and if she had gotten into trouble, he hoped that she would be able to get out of it. He had a feeling that Kendra had someone with her whom she could trust. He couldn't quite explain how he knew it, but he figured that it was because he had known Walker for so long that he was starting to get Walker's special sense.

If it was taking this long for Walker to speak with his contact, he may have discovered something about Hunter's attacker. Another possibility is Walker was trying to convince someone to give him information, but normally never took long when Walker was the one asking.

He saw Walker running toward the truck and wondered what was going on. Several possibilities passed through his mind as he watched as Walker opened the door and jumped in. Before Trivette could say a word, Walker had started the engine and peeled out of the parking lot, siren flashing and blaring.

* * *

Russell went into the Raindrop, sat at a free table and ordered a beer from a very alluring red-haired waitress, who gave Russell a wink as she went to get his beer. He debated with himself whether to try and get the waitress to go back to his place or even a motel.

Russell had heard from his contacts but they had no idea where Stone and Prescott were hiding. Even the computer geek had ended up on a dead end street. The beer would do him good and give him a chance to figure out what to do next. If he didn't find Stone and Prescott, he knew his boss was going to have him killed.

The waitress set his beer onto the table, smiled sweetly and allowed her leg to rub against his leg. He surprised himself from refraining to return the waitress' flirtation, but he did give a nod as he took a sip from his beer.

He allowed his eyes to wander around the bar and in his mind imagined that he would find Stone and Prescott right under his nose. He almost laughed out loud at the thought when One-Eyed Jackie came and sat at his table with a beer in his hands.

"What are you doing here Russell? Aren't you usually skulking around town doing what the Devil grins about?" One-Eyed Jackie gave Russell his side grin that reminded Russell of a crazy pirate, which Russell realized was stereotypical of a man with an eye patch.

Russell was about to respond when he noticed the bruises on the man's neck. "What happened to you, Jackie?"

Jackie pulled up on the collar of his jacket to try and hide the bruises. "Nothing."

"Right, you got into a fight and your bodyguards didn't protect you this time. Who got a hold of you this time?"

"None of your business, Russell," Jackie replied, his lips turned up into a sneer.

Russell raised his hands in the air, signaling that he was done with heckling Jackie. Russell realized that there was one person whom he had not asked about Stone and Prescott. Someone who knew more was going on in town than bake sales and barbeques. "Hey, I've got something to ask you, Jackie."

"It's going to cost you," Russell said with a grin, returning to his specialty would help him get his reputation back. He wondered what he was going to get in return. He knew that Russell was more than some hired bully but if that was all he was, he certainly had some decent connections.

Russell sighed and stopped himself from rolling his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. How about, the next time you decide to play with the law and you get caught, I get you out of trouble."

Jackie rubbed his chin, trying to make it seem as though he was unsure of the deal, even though he was ready to pounce on it like a fish jumping around when it rained. "All right, you've got a deal Russell. Now, what do you want to know?"

"Any idea where Kendra Stone and Will Prescott are hiding out?" Russell asked quietly, knowing that even though the clientele at the Raindrop were not model citizens and tended to keep to themselves, you never knew if one was a snitch.

"Kendra Stone?" One-eyed Jackie said, his one eye becoming wide. "I don't know a thing about her." He subconsciously placed his on his neck and massaged it.

"Stone did that to you, didn't she?" Russell asked with surprise, mixed with a strange feeling towards Stone. He didn't want to know what the feeling was nor did he have the time to figure it out, since he had a job to do.

"Never mind," One-Eyed Jackie said a he removed his hand from his neck. "Let me make a few calls."

"I'll be here waiting," Russell said with a grin as he raised his beer towards Jackie.

Jackie grunted, drowned his beer and went to make his calls. He hoped that this deal would be worth it, especially if Kendra Stone would get what she deserved for humiliating him.

* * *

Butch finished his coffee and placed the empty cup in the trash. He walked casually back to Hunter's room, wondering if Cassie had seen Hunter's eyes move. He was glad when Lyle had decided to get some air while Cassie said that she would stay with Hunter until one of them got back.

He smiled at the nurse sitting in the nursing station, signing paperwork and munching on a sandwich. She not only returned his smile, but also gave him an encouraging and uplifting one that made him believe that Cassie had indeed seen Hunter's eyes flutter.

"I see that Mr. Prescott has an unwavering line of visitors. In fact, he has a new visitor with him right now."

Butch returned the nurse's smiled and turned towards Hunter's room. Butch's smile became a frown as he wondered who was with Hunter. The Rangers or the PIs would have called him if they were coming to see Hunter. Of course, it may had been someone outside their circle of friends, but something told Butch that they would had come sooner.

He debated whether he should enter Hunter's room and disturb the visitor, when a feeling in his gut told him that something was wrong. Having been a private investigator for several years, he knew to trust his gut feelings or he would regret it later.

He ran to Hunter's room, ignored the nurse asking him what was going on, grabbed the handle of the door and pushed. He discovered that the door was locked which he knew that it shouldn't be.

He backed up as far as he could and rammed into the door with his shoulder. He ignored the burn of pain and quickly took in the room. He saw a man standing at the foot of Hunter's bed and tackled him, knowing that the man had a gun in his hand without having to see it.

The man punched Butch in the stomach and quickly got out of Butch's grip. The man stood, raised the gun towards Hunter.

Butch, ignoring the pain that rumbled in his guts, jumped up, grabbed the wrist of the attacker. He fought the man for a few seconds when he heard the gunfire, sending the burning smell of gunpowder to assault Butch's nose.

Butch, wondering if the bullet had hit Hunter decided that it would be best not to let the man get another shot, pushed the man towards the wall and slammed the man's wrist a couple of times, which caused the shooter to drop the gun.

He heard the gun clatter to the floor and held the man against the wall, praying that Hunter hadn't been harmed. When Butch saw a shadow cut across the floor, his mind reeled at the thought that it was another attacker. The shadow came into the doorway and Butch sighed in relief as he recognized the silhouette.

Walker stepped into the room, sliding his gun back into its holster. Butch saw the nurse standing behind Walker and peeking into the room. Then he watched as she scurried away, probably to go call for some assistance.

"Check on Hunter, the gun fired and I'm not sure if I moved it in time," Butch said as he slammed the squirming man into the wall again, ignoring the sound of at least two bones breaking.

Walker nodded as he quickly went to check on Hunter. Walker was glad to see that Hunter showed no signs of having been shot.

Trivette walked into the room, his brown eyes quickly assessing the situation and walked up to Butch. He grabbed his handcuffs from his belt and motioned for Butch to move so he could put the cuffs on the attacker's wrists. Trivette checked the man for a weapon but didn't find anything, not even a wallet.

Trivette quickly read the man his rights and wasn't surprised that the man actually remained silent.

"Wait a minute. Where's Cassie?" Butch asked as he quickly scanned the room.

Butch grabbed the man by the collar and slammed him into the wall. Trivette was surprised that the man hadn't grunted or said a word.

Walker walked over to the bathroom and opened the door. He saw Cassie lying on the floor, blood seeping out from a large cut from the back of her head. "Trivette, go get Dr. O'Connell," Walker said as he grabbed a towel and placed it gently on Cassie's wound.

"No need, Ranger Walker, I'm here," Dr. O'Connell said as she stepped into the room with two nurses at her heels.

Cassie's eyes flickered as the pain caused a wall of darkness to cover her memory. After waiting a moment, the wall began to diminish, revealing what had happened. She moaned as the memories flashed through her, knowing that she would have to wait to tell the Rangers what had happened.

"I'll take over, Walker. Then, you may ask her the questions I know that you need to ask," Dr. O'Connell said giving Walker a knowing look.

"Trivette, Butch, take that man out of here," Walker ordered knowing that Cassie would want her privacy and certainly wouldn't want the man who had hurt her in the room while the doctor examined her.

Butch and Trivette did as Walker had asked them, but knew that Walker didn't want them to take the shooter to Ranger Headquarters just yet.

Walker remained kneeling next to Cassie until the shooter was gone. He nodded to Dr. O'Connell, stood up and moved out of the doctor's way. He patiently waited as Dr. O'Connell carefully removed the bloody towel to check the head wound and then she shone her penlight in Cassie's eyes and asking her several questions during the entire process.

"All right, we can let you get up off the floor now, but slowly. Let me know if you start to feel sick," Dr. O'Connell said as she watched Cassie's face carefully as she helped the woman to her feet.

Satisfied that Cassie was going to be all right, Dr. O'Connell had Cassie sit down in a chair. "There's no need for stitches, because the laceration has already closed up. Please, let me know if you start to feel dizzy, queasy, or have any headaches."

"Thanks, Doctor O'Connell," Cassie said as she accepted an ice pack from the nurse with the short, brown hair.

"Your welcome, Cassie and please take it easy." Dr. O'Connell shooed the nurses out of the room and stayed a few moments to speak quietly with Walker.

Cassie strained to hear, even though she told herself that it was wrong to eavesdrop, but it didn't really matter since she didn't hear a word.

Walker didn't speak, but nodded his head in agreement, to what Dr. O'Connell said to him. Dr. O'Connell said goodbye once more and left, telling Cassie that she would be back in a little while to check on her and Hunter.

Cassie's curiosity grabbed her like a runner grabbing that cup of water during a marathon. "What did Dr. O'Connell say to you?"

Walker looked at Cassie and smiled. "She honestly told me to keep an eye on you and on Hunter."

Cassie nodded, knowing that there was probably more to it than that, but decided that Walker wouldn't tell her anything more. She decided that since Dr. O'Connell was going to return and check on her that she may as well remain with Hunter instead of going to Ranger Headquarters to see how Carlos was doing.

She missed Carlos, even though she felt a little guilty about wanting him with her because she knew that he was working hard to find out about Hunter's case. It bothered her a little that Carlos would get wrapped up in his cases and she wouldn't see or hear from him in several hours or even a couple of days.

She wondered if she would ever get used to Carlos' lifestyle or if it was going to be the one obstacle that she would never get past. She returned back to the room and to Walker, who began to ask her what had happened. As she answered Walker's questions, Cassie pushed Carlos to a corner of her mind where she would sort things out about him later.

* * *


	14. Chapter 14: Royce’s Connection

Disclaimer: The characters of, "Sons of Thunder" and "Walker Texas Ranger", are owned by Chuck Norris, Aaron Norris, CBS and whoever else was involved with the creation and production of these two shows. Any new characters and story lines that come into play are of my own creation. No copyright infringement is intended. This is a fanfiction intended for entertainment purposes only and no money is being made off of it.

* * *

Chapter 14: Royce's Connection

Will sat at the computer, his fingers drumming on the table to help keep him awake. Of course, Kendra had gone out a couple of hours ago, gotten them both cups of coffee and some type of pastry that had Will wondering where to get more of them. Will was surprised when Kendra had fallen right to sleep as soon as she had stopped pacing and had sat down.

Will felt that he couldn't be the only one with this incriminating evidence so he decided to pass the information along to someone he could trust. He sent his program and the coded information to Ranger Trivette, knowing that if something should happen to him and Kendra, at least the Rangers would be able to stop whomever Hunter had been investigating.

Will sighed softly and looked over at the sofa where Kendra had fallen asleep. It didn't look as though the sofa was very comfortable, but he bet it was better than a hard, wooden chair. He began to feel his head dropping down onto his chest and had shaken his head to keep himself awake. Even though the chair was uncomfortable, he fell asleep as the program continued to crack the code.

Kendra had been concerned that she would have another night filled with nightmares, but for some reason, her mind decided to give her a break. It was the first time she got some rest since Tyler had been hurt and when she had been angry with Hunter.

Even though her subconscious mind was keeping her blissfully within the darkness, her conscious mind sent a warning signal across her mind. As Kendra began to leave the darkness of her subconscious mind and return to her conscious, she felt something brush against her legs.

Kendra was about to jump to her feet, when she was grabbed by her arms and she was pulled to her feet. Kendra's eyes shot open as she looked into the darkness, trying to see who was standing right in front of her.

* * *

The sound of a steady beeping was the first thing that came to his mind. He slowly opened his eyes, allowing his eyes to adjust to the light where all there had been was darkness for so long.

When his eyes had finally adjusted, he saw a familiar shape standing off to his right. "Walker?" Hunter asked his voice barely above a whisper.

Walker stepped up to the bed and placed one hand on Hunter's shoulder. "Glad to see you awake, Hunter," Walker said as he removed his hand from Hunter's shoulder and took his hat off and held it in one hand.

Walker handed Hunter a cup of water with a straw and waited until Hunter had abated his thirst. Walker was debating whether he should call the doctor when Hunter set the cup down and gave Walker a determined and stubborn look that told the Ranger that Hunter didn't want to waste time with a doctor until he his questions were answered.

"Where's Kendra and what am I doing in the hospital?" Hunter asked as he tried to look around the room for her, but that just caused the room to spin.

"What do you remember?" Walker asked, knowing that it was better for Hunter to remember on his own.

"I remember Kendra being upset with me and I was planning on making it up to her." Hunter paused to think about what else he had done that day. "I was in my apartment and then I had gone to bed."

Walker waited patiently knowing by the look on Hunter's face what memories were now coming to Hunter's mind.

"I felt something in my chest, as though I had really bad heartburn from Trivette's chili. Then I felt intense pain and I knew that it definitely wasn't heartburn. I opened my eyes, there was someone standing over me, and then I saw the gun. I was trying to raise my arms to protect myself, but I was too slow and I saw the gun go off. I felt the pain in my chest intensify." Hunter's gaze returned to Walker instead of the wall beyond the Ranger where his eyes had gone when he had remembered. "That's the last thing I remember."

"Its okay, Hunter, but now it's time for you to tell me what case you had been working on."

Hunter was about to answer when Butch stepped into the room. Butch grinned at Hunter glad that his friend was awake.

"Hey, Hunter, glad to see that you're finally awake," Butch said as he stood next to Hunter's bed and studied the younger man. He cast a glance at Walker, asking the Ranger whether he should go get the doctor.

"I'm fine, Butch," Hunter said guessing what Butch was thinking and knowing that something had happened recently to have Butch so concerned.

Butch raised a doubtful eyebrow and was about to comment when Trivette entered the room.

"I got Ranger Bank and Ranger Dunn to take the guy to headquarters," Trivette said to Walker before he noticed that Hunter was awake.

"I'm sure those good ole boys will take good care of him," Butch said his mouth becoming an angry line.

Hunter was about to ask Butch what was going on when Trivette asked how he was doing. After several moments of reassuring Trivette and Butch that he was fine, Butch realized that Cassie wasn't in the room.

"Where's Cassie?" Butch asked feeling a little guilty that he hadn't noticed that Cassie wasn't around.

"She went outside to get a little air," Walker replied as he returned his attention back to Hunter.

Walker asked Hunter again about the case that he had been working on.

"I was doing some research on a case that dealt with an old acquaintance of Greg Royce. I got my hands on an old interrogation tape. Royce had hinted on the tape that he had a connection with someone in the prosecutor's office. It had been a subtle suggestion but I decided to check it out."

"I'm surprised that the detectives hadn't noticed the suggestion," Trivette commented with a frown.

"I was wondering that too but I think that they didn't believe Royce could have a connection to the prosecutor's office," Hunter said wondering why he was giving the detectives an excuse for not checking out everything that Royce had said to them.

"You discovered who Royce had a connection with at the prosecutor's office," Walker said unable to keep from being curious about the person's identity.

"Judge Reynolds was Royce's connection to the prosecutor's office. He's known Royce since childhood and he's been dirty since he started his law career. He had been keeping Royce and his associates out of jail but he's been careful and clever to cover his tracks."

"Not until you find out about him being a snake dealer," Butch said his hands forming into fists.

"Are you sure about this?" Trivette asked still shocked at the revelation that Judge Joseph Reynolds was a criminal.

Hunter didn't hesitate as he nodded his head and continued with his story. "I took the information I had gathered and changed into a complex code. I split the coded information onto two flashdrives so that you would only be able to obtain the information if you had both of them together."

"So only Kim could decode it or your brother, Will," Butch said shaking his head at the extremes that Hunter had gone to protecting the information that he had gathered.

"That's right, Butch. I sent a flashdrive to my brother Will and I hid the other one where I knew Kendra would find it."

"Where would that be?" Trivette asked unable to hold back his curiosity.

"I hid it at the Coffee Bean Café but I'm sure Kendra has found it by now." Hunter looked at his friends for confirmation but all he received was silence as they tried to take in everything that Hunter had told them.

"Let's go, Trivette," Walker said as he placed his hat back onto his head and headed towards the door.

"Wait, Walker, you didn't answer my question," Hunter said as he sat up quickly, causing his chest to scream at him in pain, but he pushed that pain away knowing that he was going to have to deal with it later.

"Which one was that Hunter?" Walker asked keeping the concern out of his eyes so Hunter wouldn't see it.

"Where's Kendra?" Hunter asked his green eyes looking into Walker's blue ones.

"You already know the answer to that Hunter," Walker replied as he signaled to Trivette with a quick nod of his head as he went out the door.

Hunter looked at Butch who had crossed his arms across his chest. "You know Kendra, Hunter. Besides, I have it on good authority that your brother Will is with her. He'll keep her out of trouble."

Hunter would have snorted if he hadn't been terrified for not only Kendra's life but his brother's as well. He knew quite well that no one could keep Kendra from getting into trouble.

* * *

Kendra struggled to release herself from the grip of the men who held her but stopped when she felt the gun being pressed against her skull.

Several flashlights were turned on which illuminated the room well enough for Kendra to see across the room. When she looked across the room at Will and saw that he had a gun pointed at his head.

"If either of you try anything, the other is going to have their brains splattered around the room," Russell said as he stepped into the room.

Kendra glared at Russell wondering how she could have let these goons sneak up on her like this especially when she knew that they had been looking for her and Will.

"Now, where is the information that I want?" Russell asked as he held up a threatening fist in front of Kendra's face.

"I have no idea what you are talking about," Kendra replied, her blue eyes blazing with anger.

Russell pulled back his fist and struck Kendra on the chin, causing her head to snap back. Tears stung Kendra's eyes but she looked at Russell her eyes seeming to be an inferno as she ignored the taste of blood in her mouth.

"Let her go, she doesn't know anything!" Will yelled, knowing that he couldn't try anything because one of the goons still had his gun pointed at Kendra's skull.

"All right, if you don't want to answer my questions right now, that's fine. It's time to take a little trip. Biff, dose them," Russell ordered giving Kendra an arrogant grin.

"What? No!" Kendra said as Biff jabbed a needle into her neck.

Will tried to pull away from the man who held the needle, but the men who held him made sure that the needle entered his neck.

Russell was glad that he had called in a few more men to help him with Prescott and Stone. He knew his boss was going to be pleased that he had found them, but he still hadn't found what his boss really wanted. Now his boss wanted to speak to Prescott and Stone which was fine with Russell. The girl had been getting under his skin in more ways than one.

* * *

guardianM3: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed this story so far. I always try to reply to every review that I get, but lately work has been keeping me busy and I've been trying (really trying) to update this story as often as I can. I also appreciate everyone's patience during my agonizingly slow updates. Please review and let me know what you think about this story, the characters, etc.


	15. Chapter 15: Buried Secrets

Disclaimer: The characters of, "Sons of Thunder" and "Walker Texas Ranger", are owned by Chuck Norris, Aaron Norris, CBS and whoever else was involved with the creation and production of these two shows. Any new characters and story lines that come into play are of my own creation. No copyright infringement is intended. This is a fanfiction intended for entertainment purposes only and no money is being made off of it.

* * *

Chapter 15: Buried Secrets

Kendra's heavy eyes slowly opened, her entire body had that tingling feeling when her arm would fall asleep when she had been lying on it for a long time. It took several moments for her eyes to make out the blurry shapes in front of her.

It took another few minutes before she could speak. "Where's Will?" Kendra asked her mouth feeling as though she had received several shots of Novocain.

"Hunter's brother? Oh, he's around," a voice said coming from Kendra's right.

Kendra slowly turned her head and looked at the man who had spoken. He looked to be in his fifties with a sharp, modest haircut that showed off the gray specks in his black hair. His face wasn't quite lean nor was it pudgy. His eyes were a dark gray, almost black and shone with a look of superiority.

"You look familiar." Kendra stared at the man in front of her, trying to figure out how this man was connected to Hunter.

"Well, Miss Stone, I would think that you would know who I am since you've been in my town for a while now."

"No, sorry, I have no idea who you are. You must not be that great of a guy if I don't recognize you. You are obviously a crook and quite possibly an egotistical snake as well."

Knuckles cracked his knuckles before he hit Kendra's right cheek.

Kendra didn't make a sound as she felt a tooth pop loose and could taste blood in her mouth. She tried not to let them know that it hurt but she couldn't prevent her eyes from watering.

"I have questions that I need you to answer honestly. If you don't, well I believe an intelligent young lady such as yourself will know what will happen without needing me to explain it to you."

"No matter what you ask, I'm not going to tell you a thing. Even if you have, 'Knuckles' here try and beat it out of me." Kendra didn't flinch as another blow came at her, this time it struck her above her left eye.

Reynolds sighed, knowing that he wasn't going to get an answer from the aggravating woman. "I'm surprised Prescott got you involved in all of this. You are such a beautiful young woman." He said as he tilted her chin up and studied the features of her face.

Kendra tossed her head away from his hand but he firmly grabbed onto her chin and held her head still. "He knew if anything happened to him, that I would take down slime like you," she said fiercely her eyes flashing in anger.

"Well, that's its too bad that he did get you involved in this situation. Seeing that you also refuse to answer any of my questions, you are certainly not going to be around to take me down."

"How are you so certain about that?" Kendra asked as she struggled to free one of her hands, but the rope continued to cut deeply into her wrists.

"I always bury my secrets," he said with a fiendish smile.

Kendra felt herself shiver because of the man's grin and didn't see the punch being thrown at her by Knuckles. All Kendra saw before she blacked out was Reynolds looking down at her with cold, calculating eyes.

* * *

Sydney, Gage, Trent, Carlos, Kim and Alex all felt relief when the two senior Rangers entered the office but then they all became anxious when they saw the look on Trivette and Walker's faces.

Sydney stood up from her desk, knowing that Walker and Trivette wanted all of the information that had been collected. "We think we may have figured out who tried to have Hunter killed. We had to look far back into Greg Royce's past, but we finally found someone who is connected to the judiciary system."

"It's Judge Reynolds. When he was younger, he was friends with Royce," Walker said as Trivette headed to his computer.

"So, you're telling me that Judge Reynolds _is_ involved in all of this?" Alex asked since she was still surprised when she had been told before Walker and Trivette had entered the room.

"He's not just involved; he's the leader of the pack. He's been dirty since he was DA," Trivette said as he sat down at his desk.

"I just can't believe it," Alex said shaking her head, wondering how she could have missed the signs that pointed to Judge Reynolds being involved in crime. She realized that she should have known when it was discovered that his receptionist didn't have a clean record.

Kim frowned slightly irritated that Ranger Walker had already figured it out since her and the others had been working several hours to find the connection. "Yeah, good guess, Ranger Walker. How did you know?"

"Hunter told us," Trivette replied kicking Carlos off of his computer.

"What? Hunter's awake?" Sydney asked incredulous since neither Trivette nor Walker had called them with the good news.

"Yes, he's awake but before he woke up someone tried to kill him. Thankfully, Butch was there to stop him, but Cassie did get a bad bump on the head. She's fine though and Butch is keeping an eye on her," Trivette added when Carlos' face had drained of all its color and his eyes had widened enough for Trivette to consider it a bug-eyed look.

Carlos excused himself his hand reaching for his cell phone and left the room.

Alex had crossed her arms and was giving her husband the look she always gave him when he had left out information that she deemed important.

"Well, I just received something interesting," Trivette said as he looked up at Walker from the computer screen.

"What is it, Trivette?" Walker asked as he came around the desk and looked at the monitor.

"It's in code," Trivette replied with a frown and realized what had been sent to him.

"Its evidence of Judge Reynolds dirty dealings," Kim said as she looked at the computer monitor.

"What makes you say that?" Gage asked looking at the screen and wondering how Kim knew what the random numbers and letters meant.

"It's obvious that this is evidence from Hunter's case. This was sent to Trivette from Hunter's brother Will," Kim replied as she pointed to the screen.

"Hunter gathered all of the evidence, sent half it to his brother Will and hid the other piece where Kendra would find it. He sent us the coded information but also he sent the program that will decode the information. The problem is that it is going to take a while for it to decode," Trivette explained quickly once he studied the screen and saw that Kim was right.

"If Will sent you this, do you think something has happened to him and Kendra?" Alex asked as worry filled her.

"What information do we have on Reynolds?" Walker asked as a familiar feeling passed through him.

"He's involved in a development that's going up just outside of Dallas," Trent answered as he picked up several pieces of paper that had the information about the development.

"That's where he's taken them," Walker said as he headed toward the door.

"What makes you say that?" Kim asked wondering how Walker always seemed to know when someone was in danger and where they could be found.

"Just a feeling," Walker replied as he headed out the door putting on his black cowboy hat over his reddish brown hair.

No one commented as Trent and the Rangers followed while Alex and Kim looked at each other wondering if Kendra and Hunter's brother would be found safe.

* * *

guardianM3: Thanks to those who have reviewed so far. Sorry about the wait but I had writer's block.


	16. Chapter 16: Close to Perfection

Disclaimer: The characters of, "Sons of Thunder" and "Walker Texas Ranger", are owned by Chuck Norris, Aaron Norris, CBS and whoever else was involved with the creation and production of these two shows. Any new characters and story lines that come into play are of my own creation. No copyright infringement is intended. This is a fanfiction intended for entertainment purposes only and no money is being made off of it.

* * *

Chapter 16: Close to Perfection

Will groaned as he felt as though his entire body had been hit by a massive wave leaving him unable to move. He opened his eyes slowly so he wouldn't be blinded by the light. After a few moments, his thoughts became clearer as did the realization that he was tied to a chair.

He looked around the room and realized he was in an old barn. He wondered if the he was placed over a spot of rotting floorboards when the door opened, squeaking in protest.

The leader of the goons, Russell, was there as well as another man who was older and was dressed in a polo shirt and beige pants. Will knew that standing before him was Judge Reynolds the man who had tried to have Hunter killed.

"Where's Kendra?" Will asked, trying to keep his anger in check as well as his vivid imagination as he struggled with the ropes that held him to the chair.

Reynolds sighed, wondering how Russell could have screwed things up so much that he had to waste his time trying to get the evidence that Hunter Prescott had gathered against him. "She's in better place."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Will asked as he glared at Reynolds.

"Where is the evidence that your brother took?" Reynolds asked ignoring Will's

question.

"In the right hands," he answered giving Reynolds his darkest and slyest look.

"Russell," Reynolds said with irritation.

Russell knowing without asking what his Boss wanted pulled out his forty-five and pointed it at Will's chest.

"Now, I don't want to hear any more smart remarks. I've had my fill from the girl. You are going to tell me where the evidence is or Russell here is going to put several holes in your body."

* * *

Kendra groaned as she felt the throbbing pain on the side of her head. She pictured a herd of wild horses running around her head.

"She better not wake up. It'll make it harder," a gruff voice said.

"She won't wake up. I hit her hard enough. Let's just get this done."

Everything came rushing back at Kendra like a charging horse, which caused the pain in her head to worsen for a second before she ordered her mind to clear. When she felt a hand clamp tightly onto her arm, she knew that it was time.

Kendra's eyes shot open as she brought her knee up right into the guy's crotch. She ignored the guy's yelp as she rolled away from him tripping the other goon and then kicking him in the head once he had fallen to the ground.

Kendra quickly slid her hands down the back of her legs and brought her tied hands in front of her. She jumped onto her feet just as Biff had blocked out the pain.

"Hey, girl!" Biff grunted as he jumped at her his face red in anger and pain. He ran at her in a tackle, but she quickly sidestepped him and jammed her elbow against his back causing him to fall flat on his face which knocked him out cold.

It took only a few minutes for Kendra to free her hands from the rope that encircled her wrists by cutting it with a knife from Squinty's pocket. Then she used the rope to expertly tie up the two thugs.

She looked around her and saw just what Judge Reynolds meant by burying is secrets. There were two shovels lying on the ground next to a large hole but what was worse was the wooden box made from scrap wood.

She turned her head away from what could have been her fate and saw that a development was going up about fifty feet away. She wondered if Will was in one of the newly built houses but that was before she saw the barn. She knew that Will had to be there as she took off at a run hoping that he was all right.

* * *

Will tried hard not to stare at the gun that Russell was pointing straight at his chest. He couldn't help but wonder about Kendra more than this man putting a bullet in him to get information.

"Now, tell me want I want to know," Reynolds snapped trying to hold his impatience that was slipping from him rather quickly to his great annoyance.

"I already told you what I know, Reynolds. Where's Kendra?"

"'Right here!" Kendra yelled as she shot in through the door and knocking the gun out of Russell's hand before he could register her sudden appearance. All of Kendra's frustration, anger and guilt were put in the punch she threw at Russell sending him to the ground.

Kendra spun on her feet but she didn't move quickly enough to avoid the punch from Reynolds nor could she avoid tripping her causing her to fall down. She cursed and looked at Will who was rocking the chair, trying to free himself so he could help her.

Will met Kendra's eyes and then flickered over her shoulder. He saw Reynolds reach into his pocket and pull out a gun.

Kendra, noting the look on Will's face reached for Russell's gun that was only an arm's lengths away. Right as she grabbed it, she rolled over and focused on her target.

Two shots rang out which were heard by the Rangers and the PIs who had just arrived at the development.

* * *

Trivette was the first to take off toward the barn with everyone else following behind him.

As Kendra untied the rope from Will's wrists, the Rangers and Carlos entered the barn from the front with their guns drawn, while Trent entered from the back.

Kendra glanced casually at her friends as she finished freeing Will from the chair. "Hi guys. You can put some handcuffs on those losers and the call an ambulance for the head honcho over there."

"Are you all right?" Trent asked as the Rangers went to gather the thugs knowing that Kendra would fill them all in later.

"Yeah, just a little bump on the head," Kendra replied with a shrug.

"Really?" Will said as he stood up from the chair and looked at the bruises on Kendra's face.

"Yes, I am and so are you so let's get out of here," Kendra said needing to get some fresh air.

"Yeah, I like that idea a lot," Will said as he glanced over at Reynolds who was clutching his arm where Kendra had shot him. Reynolds had dropped his gun which had caused it to go off and fire a bullet into a wooden post that held up the loft.

* * *

Tommy was sitting on the steps of the porch staying out into the street mindlessly stroking Moses' head.

"Hey, Tommy," Trent said coming out of the house without a sound. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Whatever," Tommy replied knowing what Trent was going to say to him.

Trent took sat down next to Tommy. "Look, I know I've apologized a lot and it's been getting annoying but I am truly sorry, Tommy. I was terrified."

"You were?" Tommy asked incredulous and completely thrown from what he had believed Trent was going to say to him.

"Yes, just as you were, but you also felt guilty about the accident. You still do. There are times when we say things we really don't mean, but when those words are spoken, it causes pain in the ones we care about the most. The guilt will pass in time. It is a blessing that Tyler is alive and another that he is going to be fine. He won't be entirely the same, but that happens during traumatic experiences in your life."

Tommy felt as though the clamp that had tightened around his heart had finally been loosened enough so he could free his guilt. "I'm sorry, Trent about how I acted and what I said to you."

Trent clapped Tommy on the shoulder. "I know and I'm sorry too." Trent pulled Tommy into a quick hug.

"So, what went down today?" Tommy asked. "I bet it was interesting since Kendra was involved.

Trent laughed. "Well, you could say that Tommy. You could say that."

* * *

"So, are you sure you're all right?" Kendra asked as she adjusted Hunter's pillow.

"I'm all right. I promise." Hunter couldn't believe the story that Kendra and Will had just told him. Actually, he could believe it since Kendra had been involved. He turned his head to look at Will. "Thank you for coming here to help me and Kendra."

"Hey, no problem. Uh, mostly. Did you know that she's a crazy driver?" Will whispered to Hunter but Kendra still heard what he had said.

Hunter laughed. "Yes, I know."

"So, when are you headed back to LA?" Kendra asked once she had given Will a dark look.

"In a few days. Uncle Lyle needs at least one of his nephews to keep him company."

Will looked at Hunter and a look passed between them that Kendra didn't see. "Right, well, I should head out. I'll see you guys later."

Hunter was about to speak but Kendra beat him to the punch. "I'm tired of being the damsel in distress. I shouldn't have allowed my anger and my guilt to override my judgment. Once your brother had contacted me and told me about the flashdrive, we should have gone straight to the Rangers right off. A part of it was my guilt for making you feel guilty about not being at the hospital when Tyler had gotten hurt. I just wanted to say that I'm sorry about everything."

Hunter couldn't hold back the smile that had been brimming. "I forgive you, Kendra, because I am partly to blame as well." Hunter raised his hand silencing Kendra's protests. "I should have included you in and the Rangers. Then none of this would have happened. I know I can't change anything especially the fight we had but I am going to make it up to you."

Kendra kissed Hunter softly before she placed her hand on his cheek. "There is nothing you have to make up. I should have realized that you were working on something important and that you didn't intend to not be there for the Malloy family."

Hunter nodded and sighed contently as he felt peace returning to him.

"I heard that your doctor is letting you out in a couple of days. So, what are your plans?" Kendra asked as she sat down in the chair next to the bed.

Hunter took her hand and squeezed gently. "I plan on asking you to marry me."

"What?" Kendra asked her face going from shock to excitement to pure elation faster than her rapidly pounding heart.

"Will you marry me?" Hunter asked the hoarseness of his voice gone as new strength filled him.

"Yes."

"I'm sorry, I should have wanted until I got the ring and took you on a picnic…" Hunter said but stopped when Kendra kissed him.

It seemed as though an eon had passed when Kendra stopped kissing him. "It doesn't matter. All that matters to me is that I love you and you love me."

"I love you, Kendra Stone. I love every part of you including the crazy driver within you."

When she finally stopped laughing, she leaned down and embraced Hunter with a hug and a long kiss.

"So, when do you want to tell everyone?" Hunter asked after he had a chance to take a few breaths.

"I was going to wait until after we celebrated our engagement. Alone and in private," Kendra said with grin.

Hunter chuckled and knew that he was with the perfect woman. Well, a woman who came pretty close to being perfect, except for the fact that she always getting into trouble. Of course, it would be boring to spend a lifetime with someone who was perfect and didn't run into trouble. She was defiantly the perfect woman for him and he knew that he could never have anyone better than her. It was all the same for her about him.

* * *

guardianM3: I finally finished this story! Please review to let me know what you think.


End file.
